


Solstice

by MayaWilliam



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-25
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-21 08:10:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 94,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/897960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayaWilliam/pseuds/MayaWilliam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One hundred and fifty years before Twilight Aro discovered a vampire, Maya, physically she is at the lowest end of the scale regarding speed and strength, but she has a unique ability, to learned and mimic other vampire’s ability up to a certain extent. Aro saw the possibility he had with Maya and started teaching other vampires ability to her, but it always came with a price. She stopped learning and Aro thought she needed to punish her, so he exiled her, remove her source of how her ability works and appointed a soldier to guard her.</p><p>William is the soldier from the Volturi that Aro ordered to guard Maya during her exile. Opposite to Maya he is very strong and fast which would compensate Maya´s lack of skills and would be able to protect her considering how incapacitated she would be. Whatever Aro did not take into account the soldier falling in love with his prisoner.</p><p>Times moves forward and after the Cullens start to get in the way and Aro has created a new plan. How far is he willing to go to gain more abilities? Has she learn her lesson? Is she ready to work with them now? How far is the soldier willing to go to protect his little vampire?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where it all began

Chapter 1.- Where it all began.  
I open my eyes and all I can see is darkness, I am being carried by two cloaked figures through what I can imagine must be a sewage system; my sense of smell is overpowered by the stench that surrounds us. There is hardly any light coming in, must be a cloudy night. The water of the sewage soaks the skirt of my dress. My head feels like it weighs one thousand pounds and my body is hurting as if a stampede of horses went through it one hundred times.

At the end of the tunnel, I can see three figures, a tall one and two small one at each side; I can only assume one adult and two children. Their cloaks cover their faces, but somehow I know they are smiling enjoying seeing my current state.

“Is it done?” asks the tall figure.

“Yes master.” answer the small figures in unison, there isn't any remorse in their answer, although I have the feeling there should be, instead I hear a small giggle from one of the figures, high pitch, probably a girl.

The tall figure turns his head away from me and looks at somebody that must be behind me, its step are silent even for my hearing.

“You are aware of your orders soldiers.” says the tall figure; it does not sound like a question. It is a statement. 

“Yes master.” answers a tenor voice from behind me, I don’t recognize that voice, but the certainty of his voice creates mixed feelings, fear because I am certain I won’t be able to sustain any more pain, and maybe hope, at this point death would be a much better option. 

“Only one question master, why me?” his tone is not certain this time, if anything maybe a little bit fearful. 

“Your strengths and her weaknesses make you perfect for this job.” the voice of the tall figure sounds a little bit annoyed, good.

The pain in my body is coming back, it feels like knife is being stabbed through my body, fire burning in my head and my extremities, I start to scream, my body is convulsing and the two cloaked figures that are carrying me can’t handle me anymore, my body falls to the pavement and my head hits hard on the concrete, all I wish is death, praying for it to come fast and swiftly. 

“Jane darling, please stop, you already had your fun and we don’t want to kill her…yet.” I barely register the words of the tall figure. Suddenly the pain ceases but I am still aching all over.

The tall figure looks back at the male standing behind me.

“Instruct her in the basics of what it means to be one of us and to never reveal who or what she is. Think of her as a newborn.” his voice is clear and severe, no room for any questioning. “We will know if you don’t obey, and you can figure what kind of punishment awaits if you do.” His face turns towards me indicating a similar punishment as the one I am enduring.

The tall figure comes near me, his steps are hesitant, after three he decides to stop, he bends down, I can finally see his face, his eyes are lock on mine, and they are reflecting an internal conflict, somehow I know he is analyzing some pros and cons of my situation, he still has some doubts. Let me help you with the decision, just kill me and stop the pain. I try to communicate this through my eyes. His head snaps up, he has decided, he bends closer to me and whispers in my ears, so low hoping nobody in the audience can hear him.

“Remember, if you can, you brought this upon yourself, too bad you don’t want to be a part of our plans, you would have been an excellent element in our guard, but as always, you are as stubborn as a mule, let’s hope that changes in some years.” I try to raise my hands, somehow I know this is going to help me, but the pain comes back so strong, so unexpected, my body convulses again and then it stops.

The cloaked figure raises in such a graceful way, he turns on his heel and goes back to his original position with no rush. “Alec, Jane, you know what you need to do.” and starts walking through another tunnel, out of sight, leaving me with the three guards and the two little monsters.

I look around from my current position on the floor and I can see that the voice that came from behind me is from a very tall figure, probably taller than the male that just left. His face doesn't even look my way, it’s just staring up front, he is a soldier, his orders have been delivered and he will follow them.

He steps back and the two childlike figures are in front of me. I can see a fog coming closer, reaching me, touching me, and then my senses start to weaken, there is no longer any light, the stench of the sewage disappears, I know that I start to scream, but I can’t hear anything, or feel anything.

I start to recover my sight, the darkness is not as intense as it used to be, the smell of the sewage is not so overpowering, there is a new scent that mixes with it I turn and I can see that the new scent is from the tall soldier. I am no longer screaming. My body is sore but manageable compared to the pain that I am feeling in my wrists. The soldier bends down and picks up my small broken frame, I can finally see his crimson eyes and somehow they can’t seem to leave mine, something just shifted in him, his stare is no longer cold, is warmer, but his orders are clear and he will follow them. The strangest thing is that I don’t want to stop looking at him either, but the pain in my body and head is still strong.

He starts walking through the tunnels, the pain starts to reduce, except in my wrists, I notice a calling in my head at first is really loud, but each step the soldier takes the calling starts to dim; I somehow feel we are not going in the right direction, we should go where the calling was louder. I try to talk but I am too weak, instead I try to point to the right direction, that is when I notice something is really off, I look down at my arms and that’s when it hits me, beyond my wrist there is nothing else. Those monsters have taken away my hands. 

The last thing I remember is screaming looking into the soldier’s eyes, but now it is no longer a scream of pain, it is a scream of despair and that is the moment I go into shock

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended


	2. To Expect The Unexpected

I decided the moment she was handed over to me that we should become nomads. It would be easier to keep a low profile and hide away from any vampire that might know her or that knows something about her. Not that I am aware of that information myself, just the gossip that I was able to hear, from the brief moment that I was in Volterra after my last mission, which honestly is hard to believe.

Ten years for a human would be a long time, for us vampires is just a small breath of our long existence. I would have thought that being cut off from any vampire relation would have been impossible, but just being here with her has made it bearable, which doesn´t mean it has been easy, considering that she hasn't woken up since that day.

I would make sure she would get some sun and that no dust fossilized on her, I have seen the effect that would do in a vampire skin and eyes and I didn't want that for her. 

The hardest part was getting to feed her, I was expecting that her own instinct would have awaken her once the thirst became unbearable, so I kept her unfed and started bringing some humans that would help me wash her and clothe her, but nothing she was still in that state of unconsciousness.

I actually started to worry after one accidentally cut her finger and she didn't even respond to the smell of blood, unfortunately for the victim, I did.

How could she not respond to it? I went to the extreme; even wander near a war area to see if all that blood would actually knock some sense to her… but nothing, sleeping beauty did not wake up. 

Almost a year went by and she did not feed, I was pulling my hair by then. I knew that a vampire would not die of starvation….or at least I never heard about it. Was she the first one to achieve it? 

I was beginning to consider the idea of going back to Volterra and ask the Master what was wrong with her. But that would have meant giving up and failing, nothing good would come out of it.

Finally during one of our trips we came across a wounded deer, as soon as its scent came across us; I noticed that her breathing started to increase and her stand became tense, different from what I had already grown used, the closer I started to get to the animal the more rigid she became. 

The animal was so weak, it didn't even put up a fight when I picked it up and brought it near her, as soon as the animal neck was near her mouth she started feeding on it, EUREKA!!! But my happiness was soon shattered when I realize that she did not wake up, but at least I knew how to feed her.

“Sir?” a voice breaks my thoughts and brings me back to the present “Mr. Harper?”

“Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts” I turned to look at the female human that is attending the counter of the brothel house where I currently am.

“We were wondering what exactly happened to her?” I hear the concern on the female’s voice. Once again, I am going to tell the story that I've been telling for the last five years.

“I found her out in the woods, all by herself” she looks at me taken aback, but I know that is something they can believe considering that is winter time “I ran as fast as I could, I didn't want her to die”

“Going to a physician would have been a better idea” the usual response.

“I am from out of town, I don't know where the physician lives. But from where I come, is common knowledge that the sooner you warm up the chances to live are better, what better than a warm bath, right?” the length I have to go for her to get a bath without them getting suspicious of her cold skin.

“She was lucky you found her” her eyes are finally showing kindness “unfortunately Edna just told me that she hasn't woken up”, who is Edna?

“Edna?” she smiles at this.

“Well actually her boy was the one that came and inform me of her current state.” she points down and I can see a human boy probably around 5 years old looking inquisitively at me. “We can ask Jonas to fetch the physician, right Jonas?” the boy looks excited about this probable new task….but I am not, I know I can fool some women with very little knowledge on a medical condition…but not a physician.

“It’s too cold out there, I wouldn't want Jonas to get sick” my answer takes her by surprise “Once she is warmed up I can take her over there, if you are kind enough to point me to the right way” I smile at her and see a small flush in her face. 

Don't overdo it. I just fed but the speeding of her heart is making me lose my self control.

“I could go and later you can pay me back” her heartbeat is speeding up, oh no! I need to stop this conversation.

“My resources are limited and I believe the doctor would expect payment, as Edna” her face doesn't even falter.

“You can always pay me in….” a loud scream interrupts her, my head snaps to the second floor where it came from. A loud bang follows it and after a few seconds later a set of footsteps.

“Ruby!!!” I recognize Edna’s voice. Ruby, which I now know is the name of the human female I was talking with, starts running up the stairs and I follow her, pacing myself to a human speed. My mind however is having a hard time processing what I think it might be happening.

“She woke up” Edna´s face is full of terror “and she… she… she”, I don’t wait for Edna to finish her sentence, I run towards the room where I saw Edna take her in when we arrived. I get a hold of the door knob and push the door finding some resistance on it, but nothing that an extra force from my vampire skills can’t handle.

As soon as I open the door, I realize that the resistance was due to a dresser that was blocking the door. 

I push a little harder moving the dresser out of the way and I am able to see the room, which is rather small and ugly, but what was I expecting….I am in a brothel. There is an unmade bed in one corner of the room, at the other side of the room a small tub near the fireplace, with water splash all around it. A closed window at the opposite wall from where I am standing.

I venture inside and stay near the door, I look at my right towards where the bed is and see a mirror hanging from the wall, to my left the dresser is blocking my view, I move forward cautiously and that is where I see her. 

Her back is towards me and she is not aware of my presence, she has a chemise already on which is soaked at different areas, leaving little to my imagination of what is behind it and the water that is dripping from her hair not really helping to get it dry. By the looks of her, she is having some kind of a fight with another piece of clothing, moving too fast for a human.

I had pictured this moment in my mind hundreds of times; she would be lying on a bed in a beautiful room or in a forest. Her eyes would open revealing that strange and beautiful amber color that they have; they would move from one side to the other, her mind looking for a logical explanation of where she was. She would then sit down looking at the whole room or forest not recognizing a single thing.

I would be by her side like a knight in shining armor rescuing her from the torment that her mind was probably in, explaining to her calmly and to the best of my ability what she was and the rules of our specie. After I would give her some time to think and to process what I just told her, she would then accept it without any major questioning and we will keep on living until the Master decides to call us back to Volterra.

Seems that the beautiful setting that my mind always pictured was obviously not going to happen, considering the present situation. However, I need to move forward according to plan so I step forward closing the door behind me and gaining my courage to introduce myself.

“Hmm.” I clear my throat so that she is aware that I am there.

She stops moving and I can see her back straighten up, she slowly turns, the piece of cloth that she was having the fight with close to her chest. I am finally able to see her face, her golden eyes locking with mine; any thought about how I would introduced myself completely forgotten, and replaced by her beautiful face and the recognition in her eyes. I'm frozen in place, she looks expectantly at me.

“Uhmm….I…” the words can’t seem to form in my mouth.

Her face changes from recognition to anger in a single second.

“GET OUT!!!!!” considering the numb feeling in my mind, her scream takes me off guard. I quickly turn and make my way back to the door and shut it behind me. Edna and Ruby outside the room looking at me, I can see amusement in their faces.

“I believe there is not going to be a need for a physician now.” I am finally able to think something relatively coherent.

I can see them holding back laughter.

“Should we go inside and help her out.” Edna composes herself and generously offers.

She doesn't know what she is therefore she will behave like a vampire, moving fast, missing breaths. I just saw inside how fast she was moving fighting to get dressed.

“Uh, no thank you….I´ll take care of it.” Edna and Ruby share a look that does not make me feel comfortable at all, but I don't have much of a choice.

“She is probably in shock. I will try to explain to her where I found her, but I am not sure how she might react.” considering how things have gone so far, the image that I've pictured sounds more like a fairy tale each time “so there could be some screaming…”

“You don't need to explain anything to us.” Ruby steps forward “discretion is a key item in our line of work”

WHAT??? They probably think the worst of me.

They both make their way down the hall and disappear when they reach the stairs, but I distinctly hear the laughter that they were holding back in my presence. I am about to follow them and try to soften things out, but the noise coming from inside the room makes me realize that my priorities have changed, she is no longer in a state of unconsciousness and the noise that was coming from the room couldn't be anything other than the window being opened.

I rush inside, pushing whatever new piece of furniture, she now put in to block the door, and I am just in time to pull her by her legs back into the room. Obviously, she is not taking it too nicely.

“GET IN HERE!!!.” I pull her in, but she is putting up a fight… or at least she is trying.

“LET ME GO!!!” Her voice is at the top of her lungs. She tries to get a hold of the window frame but she can´t considering the lack of hands.

“You can't go out into the sunlight.” I throw her to the bed that is next to the window and I quickly shut the window.

When I turn around, she is already getting off the bed and running towards the door. I reach the door before she is even halfway there.

She stops running when she sees me; her face is full of surprise, but not shock.

“You are fast!!” she starts backing away, her eyes never leaving my face.

If she wants to state the obvious….

“And you are slow” I start walking towards her and she backs away until she bumps into the bed.

“Let me go!!!!” her voice is full of anger, but at least this time she is not screaming.

“No” I look down and keep up her stare.

“Am I your prisoner?” she finally stops the staring contest and sits on the bed.

Seems that we are starting off on the wrong foot, if I tell her that she is, things might get more complicated than they currently are. I don't want to lie to her, but I don't want to tell her the truth, so I just keep quiet.

“What have you done to me?” she lifts the sleeves from the dress that she managed to put on while I was outside with Edna and Ruby, revealing the fact that she has no hands.

“I didn't do anything to you” I answer coldly.

“Then who did it?” she puts her arms down, letting the dress cover the missing part of her.

Again, I stay silent. She stays silent for a while not moving. I move backwards and push the furniture back to the arrangement that she made before I entered, making sure that no one can come in, and she can't go out.

When I turned around she had already stood up and is now looking at her reflection in the mirror. She stays frozen there, analyzing her reflection. I go and stand a couple of feet from where she is. Her petite frame manages to reach three quarters of the length of the mirror, I always calculate her height a little less than 5 feet, which is small compared to my 6 feet 3 inches tall. Her jet-black hair is very long reaching her lower back, with a few curls here and there, twisting the tips of it.

I start to study her face once again, like I've done hundreds of time during all those endless hours, I have already memorize her long lashes that define her almond shaped eyes, her dark and thin eyebrows so well defined framing together with her high cheekbones, her eyes. Her straight delicate nose that ends with a small tip upwards; But I love the shape of her lips, her lower lip being fuller than the upper one, I was sometimes tempted to kiss her hoping that she would wake up, but restrained myself.

Stop it William, I shouldn't be thinking like this. I start kicking myself back to reality, I close my eyes and regain my consciousness once again.

I open my eyes again but I am caught off guard seeing her smiling at her reflection, that was something that I had never seen her do in the past ten years, her face was always steady never changing. If I thought she was beautiful back when she was a statue, I was wrong, this is what real beauty looks like.

“What am I?” the spell in which I was entrapped finally breaks.

“Don't you know?” it’s better if I test how much she knows about herself.

I see a doubtful shake of her head.

“I know I am not human” her voice is certain “and neither are you”

Okay, at least we are halfway there….

“We are vampires” I was expecting shock from her, but she remains quiet studying once again her reflection. Okay, finally something I had partially visualized, so the next question should be what do we feed on. 

“What am I wearing!?!?” the tone of her voice breaks my concentration completely; once again I am caught off guard. I look at her face and there is horror in it….so she is more concerned about what she is wearing than what our diet is... I am momentarily speechless.

“You are wearing a Habit” I look at the dress that falls down to her feet, its tan color not really helping to bring any color to her face, a belt that is not properly fastened around her small waist, but the cross embroidered on her chest is a dead giveaway. And a great irony.

“YOU KILLED A NUN!?!?” she turns and looks at me her eyes blazing with fury and her tone eight octaves higher than her last phrase.

Seems that she already put one and one together and knows what our eating habits are, that might be easier than what I was expecting.

“No I didn't” I may feed on humans, but I do draw the line on children and religious people.

“So then, how?” she moves her arm up and down, pointing at the Habit. 

“It´s called charity. The nuns were kind enough to spare some of their clothes after seeing the rag dress that you were wearing” her face is still not happy. Her focus changes from her dress to analyzing the room.

“Where are we?” she starts looking around the room, her face now full of disgust.

Oh great! With things going so well, let´s make them better.

“We are with humans that were helping me bath you” I keep my tone calm.

“The human didn't look like a Nun, she looked more like a whore.”

“Language!!!” I snap, who knows how much attention our screaming has gotten us, maybe they are eavesdropping after the “You Killed a Nun” scream and I don't want to get on their bad side and get kicked out of the room, considering there is still some sunlight out, we were lucky enough that it was really cloudy when we arrived.

“Ah-ha!!” her mouth actually falls “So she is one!!!”

“As far as I am concerned they are women that had no other choice to sustain themselves or their family, they are doing the best they can” I answer back keeping my voice down. “And they were helping me and you”

I can see some regret in her face after my small correction.

“I need to leave” she goes around and stops when she looks at the window and the door. I am standing waiting to see which way she plans to go so that I can stop her….once again, “ I am a respectable lady, I can't be seen in a place like this”

Again, I am speechless.

“We are not going anywhere until the sun is down” she turns around and looks at me like she doesn't understand. I walk towards the window, there is a small ray of light coming through it; I put my hand on it and show her the effect the sun has on our skin.

She stays quiet for a while processing this new piece of information, she walks towards the sun and pulls her arm to it, I can see some pain in her eyes when she sees the same effect, but she keeps quiet.

“I don't care” she turns around fast and bolts towards the door, again I reach it before she even gets to the dresser, it’s funny how I don't even need to try to beat her.

“Let me make one thing clear, Sister” I put as much spite that I can in the last word while I lean in the desk that is blocking the door; seeing that she wasn't so happy about her dressing arrangement. “Basically it is one single rule that we need to follow”. She glares at me, but I ignore her and put an easy tone to my voice.

“The secrecy surrounding the existence of our kind is our main concern. Based on that premises we need to make sure of the following:

Hunts must been inconspicuous and with victims that will most likely not be missed, the remains of the victims need to be disposed in a fashion that humans won't get suspicious.” I've memorized all of the rules that my creator ingrained in me; the last thing I wanted is to get in trouble with the Master.

“No Immortal Children will be created” I continue the speech that I practice in my mind once again, skipping the rule of no hunting in Volterra considering that I am not planning to go anywhere near there.

“Ughh!!! I am out of here” she ignores me, turns and goes this time for the window. I go after her, but stop when I see her having trouble opening the window lock, so I continue.

“Vampire’s interaction with humans must not draw wide attention and if a human knows of our existence, that vampire is required to either kill said human or turn them into a vampire, in which case they will be responsible with teaching them the same rules.”

She finally manages to open the lock of the window, she is starting to jump out of it and I catch her just in time and carry her back to the opposite side of the room, continuing with the teaching of the rules:

“Attention should not be drawn and vampires should not be noticed in open sunlight”, I put a lot of emphasis on that last part. I turn on my heels back to the window and close it once again

I am about to tell her about Children of the moon, but she is already pushing the dresser out of the way and opening the door. I jump to the other side of the room and land just about when she is about to open the door.

“The creator is responsible for his newborn behavior and teaching of the laws before they can be release on their own. By letting a newborn hunt conspicuously the penalty will be death both to the newborn and the creator” she is glaring at me.

“Are you my creator?” she interrupts my speech.

“No” I glare back at her.

“Too bad, I could have used that last one to my advantage” she steps aside and I once again push the dresser back to blocking the door.

“IF I was YOUR creator, you would have gone down with me.” I lean on the dresser and block her exit.

She shrugs her shoulders and goes to sit by the bed.

“Any other important item that I should be aware of?” she is finally paying some kind of attention.

“No false witness, that is also punishable by death” I finalize my speech, but I am not certain if I covered all the rules, or if she was actually paying any attention to it.

“Could I see the Vampire rule book where all of that is covered” she raises one eyebrow.

“Well it doesn't exist, having anything written down would create a great risk of the information falling into the wrong hands therefore defeating the whole purpose of keeping our existence a secret, that is why the laws are passed by word of mouth from a vampire to vampire” I cross my arms.

“For all I know you could be making them up” she actually mimics my posture.

“Care to try, you can go outside” she jumps out of the bed “but just have in mind that any witness that sees you in the sunlight I will be forced to kill” she looks at me her face is full of disbelief.

“Don't lie to me, I don't like to be lied to.” her face is dead serious.

“I am not lying” I look at her eyes so that she knows that I am being sincere. “How do you know that you don't like to be lied to” as far as I've seen she doesn't remember anything about herself.

“I just do” she looks down at where her hands are supposed to be and remains quiet, her face now full of sadness. I go near the bed and bend down so that I can be at her same level.

“Our world is not something that can be taken lightly. The rules are there for a reason and if we fail to comply with any of them they are punishable by death.” I am about to add that the last thing I want is for her to die, but I keep this to myself. “Considering your situation you’ll need help and protection….”

“I can protect myself” she speaks up and looks to my eyes.

“Unfortunately for you, Sister, you are not as strong and as fast as you think” I put a gentle tone so that she knows that I am not making fun of her. “In the world there might be some of us that are not entirely good and may try to take advantage of you” 

“You might be one of them” she stops looking at me and focus on the window. I prepare myself in case I need to block her once again.

“I am here to protect you and help you” she turns and looks at me.

“And what is in it for you?”

“Just your company, it can get very lonely once in awhile” she rolls her eyes at this, but I can see an amused expression.

“How would you know?” I stand up realizing that nighttime is almost here and we are free to go back into the forest. We have brought enough attention as it is, and considering how long we have been locked in here, the noise that we made, not to mention a man leaving with a nun from a brothel is enough scandal for the town gossip.

“I haven't felt lonely for a single day in the last ten years” I move towards the door and start pushing the dresser out of the way.

“Ten years?” she gets off the bed and stops to look at me.

“That is how long we have been together” I look at her and see the shock that my words have on her.

I wonder how she is going to react when I tell her that we are in the new Continent.

“You have an English accent” she moves beside me.

“I am English, what about you? You also have a strange accent” I push the dresser to where I assume was originally located.

“I don't remember.” Her voice is full of frustration.

I open the door I look at her and try to put myself in her shoes, I can only imagine a fraction of what she is feeling, waking up to a complete stranger, not knowing who she is or what exactly she is and to top things off with no hands. I start feeling sorry for this beautiful creature….that is until I see her running full speed out of the room.

“Bollocks” I catch up with her and I grab her arm before she reaches the stairs. “Remember what I told you regarding the rules”

I see her back stiffening at this, a signal that she heard me. I go down the stairs ignoring the inquisitive looks that are coming from the crowd that has now gathered inside the brothel since nighttime is almost here. I go to the counter where Ruby is standing ready to pay her the amount that we agreed on and an extra for her silence. 

“I am sorry for all the inconveniences.” I tell Ruby as I place the money on the counter, she smiles while she looks at it.

“I've seen some strange things happen.” her reply makes me feel nervous and my smile freezes on my face, I don't want to kill Ruby, but if she suspects something…..”This not being one of them” I am finally able to breath.

I turn and look at her, I can see that she is not comfortable, I look at the rest of the picture and realize that all of the human males in the parlor are staring at her; in some there is regret in their eyes and actually are now hesitant, others their look is full of lust. A new feeling starts forming in the pit of my stomach, nothing that I've ever felt, a fury that I was not expecting coming in waves, I have to restrain myself from actually punching some of them.

“Evening Sister.” one of the tall human males approaches her; she looks back at me wondering what she is supposed to do.

“She is with me.” I get closer to her.

“I just wanted to tell her my sins… in private.” he tries to pass me, but I stop him.

“I said that she is with me” I put my arm to make sure he doesn't get any closer to her. Our heights are similar, but as soon as he sees my face, he starts backing away.

“Help Me” I hear her voice and my senses are in high alert, but when I look at her I don't see any other male approaching her which now makes me furious, didn't she listen to me back on the stairs?.

I look at the crowd and their looks are now confuse. I start feeling so much tension and I give her a warning look.

“Help Me Lord” she actually gets on her knees, as if she is praying, “You are merciful and I ask for your forgiveness for my lack of better judgment and I thank you for stopping me from making the worst mistake of my life. You are as wise as you are kind, please take care of these beautiful ladies that were kind enough to offer me shelter in my time of need” she looks at Ruby, I follow her lead, and …she is not happy, not good for business. “Amen”

“Sister Magdalene” I say the first name that pops into my head “we should go back to your convent”

She stays on her knees a little longer and finalizes by making the sign of the cross. When she looks up, there is amusement on her eyes. She is going to pay for this.

We start walking towards the door.

“Wait” I hear Edna’s voice coming from down the stairs, what now... “Please, can you give Jonah your blessing” great the fake Nun is going to bless the poor kid.

“It would be my pleasure”

Little Jonas shows up from behind the counter and makes his way where “Sister Magdalene” is, he is about to reach her when he stumbles on a board from the parlor and falls down to his knees, scraping them.

The scent of his blood makes my senses go wild, I hold my breath, I start slowly, and reluctantly making my way towards the door, but I can't leave, not without her.

“Friend” her voice snaps my attention to her “I promise to join you outside”, her look is alert and there is a warning look in her eye. She is already next to the boy, helping him get up.

“Are you okay Jonah?” she looks at him in such a friendly manner, I turn and look at the boy some small tears are about to leave his eyes, but when he sees her smiling at him he bites his lower lip and gives her a small nod. “Such a brave little guy” she says and looks at his mother who is already by his side “He is lucky to have you as a mother”

I can't take it anymore, I go outside as far away as I can without losing sight of the door of the brothel. I am waiting to hear some screams coming from in there, but nothing. It doesn't take long before she comes out, she sniffs the air and joins me.

“As promised, here I am” her look is not happy.

“Did you kill them all?” I am already thinking where I can get a tank of oil to light up the brothel and dispose of the bodies.

“Of course not, why would I do that?” she is not happy about my comment.

“We can’t leave any evidence behind. There are a lot of witnesses” 

Her look is still dubious. “What are you talking about? The poor kid just scraped his knee, I don't think there is any need to kill everybody” I look at the brothel and actually hear laughter coming out of it.

“So you didn't kill the kid?”

Now her look is full of horror. “NO!” 

my mind jumps to the next obvious conclusion. “Sister, there can't be any immortal child, it’s against the rules” I can see that she doesn't understand what I am telling her. I start walking back to the brothel, our protection comes first before a child, I don't like what I am about to do…

Edna comes out running and completely ignores me and goes towards her.

“Here, you are going to get cold” she puts a blanket on top of her, I look at the door and Jonas is waiting for his mother to come back in. My mind is not able to process seeing him alive, not screaming because of the fire taking over his body; he is actually waving at me. For safe measure, I hold my breath and return his wave.

“No Edna, you should keep it” she tries to return the blanket, but Edna is not taking it back, she actually hugs her.

“Thank you for praying for us” she starts walking back to the brothel and stops near me.

“And thank you for bringing sister Magdalene to us” she smiles and continues on her way back in, taking Jonas back inside with her.

I walk back to where she is, full of disbelief of what I just saw. “How did you do it?” 

She shrugs her shoulders and turns her head. Before we came here, I fed, I was satiated and still it was hard for me to pull away from the scent of blood. She fed three days ago, animal blood and yet, she stayed behind, aided the kid and let him live, an impossible task if you ask me.

I start walking back to where the forest is, she is following me.

We keep walking in silence, I replay in my mind every single moment that has occurred since she woke up, nothing that I expected actually happened; my theory is not wrong, is good to visualize probable outcomes. My mistake was that I didn't plan something realistic it was a dream, which means, that I need to visualize the worst outcome for any probable situation.

Having that in mind, I need to shatter any hopes that I had ever held of this lovely creature feeling a fraction of what I feel for her, I need to plan for something realistic, I am a soldier and she is my prisoner, no good can come from this.

I don't know how long we are going to stay together, so far ten years have past and the Master has not come and find us, this might take longer than I expected. Treating her as a prisoner is not going to make my task any easier, treating her like a friend might…

“I am William” I break the silence. 

She turns and looks at me, a brief smile on her lips, but keeps quiet.

“Do you have a name, or should I keep calling you Sister Magdalene?” she actually laughs at this, her laugh makes me chuckle.

“My name is…” I can see some doubt in her face “Maya” she actually smiles at this.

“Nice to meet you Maya” I smile back at her and for a brief moment I see her eyes widening and her smile becoming bigger.

“Nice to meet you William” I feel taken back when I hear her say my name for the first time, an unexpected joy. “Good luck finding me” she springs and starts running thru the forest. 

Darn it!!!! this is NOT going to be an easy task no matter if she is my friend or my prisoner.


	3. Myth and Law

We have been together for over twenty years out of those I can only remember the last ten, turns out, I was a little catatonic or that is what William keeps telling me.

We are constantly on the move, hardly ever staying at the same place, unless there is an opportunity of an abandoned house and we stay there for a week or so. This time we have stayed a whole month, but it has not been easy convincing William those last two weeks, it helped that the house is near enough to town so William can feed in town and far enough as to not bring suspicion upon us. 

Being early in the year in Montana has also helped us spend more time outside and the town people to stay inside their houses.

We have been keeping a low profile, hardly ever going to town, but William was getting thirsty and he needed to hunt. I on the other side have been able to enjoy the lovely fauna that the area has to offer, but as usual with William I have to tag along, I don't want to, but I don't have a choice, the dragging works every single time.

I try to distract myself with whatever I can while he does his feeding but it is hard, knowing what he is doing. However this time something caught my attention; I was waiting out the alley where William was feeding and across the street there was a house in the middle of town. Through the window, I was able to see a man, he was reading a book and it had his complete attention, even with the dogs barking inside the house he wouldn't put the book down. My attention was on him, I didn't realize that I was walking, crossing the road getting closer to the house, until I felt the fence stopping me. 

“What are you doing?” William startles me, I was so focus on the male human that I didn't hear him come closer.

“Something caught my attention.” I turn and look at him. One would think that after ten years I would get used looking at him, but he still has that effect on me.

But he is not looking at me, he is now looking at the man that is inside the house, I can hear the barking of the dogs getting louder more desperate than before, but the man is still fixated on his book. 

“Do you want to feed?” He looks at me, but I don't understand the question ”you know.” and he points his head towards the man. I look back at him in horror, he knows I don't drink human blood, I can hardly make it through his feedings, why would he think that?

“No.” I give him a stern look.

“Then let us go.” he starts pulling my arm, but I am not able to pry my eyes off of the man, there is something alluring about him.

“There is a storm coming; we need to leave.” I sigh and start to follow him. I glimpse back at the house after we cross the road, the man is no longer in his chair reading the book, he is at the door of the house and he is looking straight at me, I can feel his mind calling me, telling me to turn back, I stop momentarily.

“Are you coming?” I hear William, I slowly walk towards him, but for the first time ever, his voice does not have the effect that it has always had, the look on the man’s face is more appealing. William comes next to me, I can feel him gently pulling my chin so that I look straight at his face.

“Come Maya, we need to get home.” he is using his sweeter tone the one that always takes my breath away and makes my inside feel tingly. ”just don't look at him.” he says so silently he knows that I heard him, but I highly doubt that anybody else did. I nod to him; he releases my chin, and tangles his arm with mine, a more normal attitude for a human couple.

When we arrive to the house I notice that he is different, he looks worried, but there is something else... I try to put my finger on the feeling but I can't quite put a name to it, he is angry but not necessarily at me.

I sit on the sofa in the living room and I can't stop thinking about the human. He was calling me and I wasn't next to him when he wanted me to, why didn't I obey him?

William is putting a fire in the chimney from the living room, we don't have many neighbors but for appearances we light it up. He is the expert on doing this kind of thing, I usually see him trying to memorize how he does it, but I know that I will never be able to do it, especially with no hands.

I think of the man in the house; he wasn't even good looking, considering that my set point is William nobody comes close to him; it is clear that he was no longer a teenager when he was changed, the shape of his body and the lack of baby fat is evidence of that. His face is also a sight to see, it is hard to define what trait is my favorite one. Between his light caramel colored hair, his beautiful crimson eyes, his straight Roman nose, his square jaw, a perfect bone structure and symmetrical face, not to mention the small amount of stubble that he had prior to being changed that gives him a more manly, handsome look. The whole package can make any females breathing speed up, I have seen the effect his smile has…. not only on myself. To top things off his beautiful tenor voice mixed with his English accent.

“Hello? Anybody there.” I finally snap from the trance to see William right in front of me, kneeling so that my eyes are at the same height as his. I notice his face is worried.

“Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.” I say smiling back at him. I hear him sighing in relief.

“I thought that you lost it again.” he tries to smile at me.

I just shake my head.

“Good, I get bored without you around.” he starts to get up. I just roll my eyes. “So what were you thinking that you didn't hear me calling you several times.” he sits in the chair in front of me.

“Still trying to figure a way for me to light up the fire, without….”I look down where my hands are supposed to be.

“I would rather you not try it, I can only imagine a thousand things going wrong and ending with the house burned down.” He is no longer smiling, I know that he is not worried about houses safety, he is probably thinking of the dangers of me destroying him by setting him on fire.

“Don't worry I don't think that there is any danger of it.” I look straight into his eyes. “Before setting fire to the house or you, I would probably set myself on fire”.

“And that is exactly my main concern, so for my peace of mind, just don’t try it.” I can hear some concern on his voice.

“I won’t. “but it doesn't comes out as convincing as it should. We become silent again and I start thinking of the man, he is probably concerned of why I didn't go to him.

“There is something else on your mind, why won't you just tell me?” he is sitting next to me; I can feel him touching my arm to get my attention. “You are not usually this distracted.”

“It is nothing.” I say trying to get him off my back.

“Is it really?” seems that I am not fooling him. “Because I could almost think it was something that you saw in town…” he waits for me to reply, but I don’t say anything. “Or is it someone?”

He caught me off guard, his last phrase makes me holds my breath, I know that he noticed this and he stops looking at me, he looks at the ground. He has his hands together and I can see that he is putting force on them, he is mad, but I can't see his face, he is looking the other way.

“I’m sorry, there is something about that human” I start trying to explain myself to him, I don't like seeing him like this

“Don’t.” he sighs and gets up. His voice sounds sad. “He is dangerous.”

“He is just a human, why is he dangerous? Even I could easily kill him.” this makes him chuckle a little bit, but I see that there is no joy in it.

“Would you kill him, if it comes to it?” he turns and looks straight into my eyes.

I look straight at him and start thinking of the way the human looked at me, how I was feeling him calling me, telling me that I needed to be next to him. He is a strange human that I have never crossed a word with but somehow I needed to be next to him.

I shake my head.

“Then we need to leave, he will cause trouble.” I see him walking away, but I can't accept that answer, I follow him.

“Why do we need to leave?” I start to follow him, he increases the speed of his stride, but not full force, so I cut him off before he reaches the stairs. “Why is he dangerous?”

“There are several reasons.” he tries to go around me, but I don’t let him, he sighs. “the first one, did you notice the book that he was reading?”

“No, did you?” I was so distracted with the man’s face I didn't pay attention to it.

“I haven’t read the book, but I heard comments about it.” I look doubtful at him. “From humans, okay? The book is called Dracula and it seems that is about vampires.” I've also heard them.

“So, what is the book going to tell him, look in the house near the village, and surprise!!! Vampires?”

“No, but he has the idea in his mind now, he might put two and two together.” he is getting mad. “second, you can't stop thinking about him, so at some point you will go and look for him.”

Was I really so obvious about that fact?

“And third, I could feel the pull from his personality as well and believe me, the last thing I want is to feel that way again. So we better leave, I’ll start packing.” he takes advantage of my distraction and goes up the stairs, I start to follow him but he uses his full speed and I hear him closing the door of his chamber.

If he thinks that I plan to stay put waiting for him so that we can leave town he is wrong. I turn, grab my coat and put it on, I am about to leave through the front door but I stop, he will be expecting to hear the door opening and closing and he will easily catch me. I start thinking the different exits that the house has, there is a small window in the basement, I know that I am small enough to fit through; I tested it the other day when he was distracted. 

I go down to the basement, I am hoping that this doesn't raise his suspicion considering that in the time that we have been in the house I've spent some time down here when I get mad at him. I open the window and crawl outside. 

The storm is about to start soon, and from the looks of it is going to be a long heavy one. I run towards town at first at full speed hoping that William has not figured out my escape, the closer I get to town I start to slow down.

I am in front of the house, I didn't realize that it was very late, the first snowflakes start to fall from the sky, but the storm is getting strong. There is no light in the inside of the house anymore, probably the stranger has already gone to sleep and my expedition was completely pointless. I can't go back to the house, William will probably take advantage of the storm to get away from town making sure there is no track left behind for anybody to follow us; but I can’t go, not until I see the stranger one more time.

I hear some barking coming closer, from behind me, I turn around and see the stranger, he stops walking and is looking straight at me; his pull is stronger the closer I am to him, he walks towards me, the dogs barking louder trying to get loose from their leashes, but their master has them under control.

“Madam, are you lost?” his voice is very appealing, I take one-step closer to him, and I shake my head.

“There is a big storm coming, you should go back home” his words are telling me something, but the pull that I am feeling is telling me to stay where I am. I don’t move one inch from where I am standing.

The snowflakes start to pick up the pace as the wind is whooshing in my ears, and my hair is everywhere. He looks up to the sky, there is a big cloud coming closer.

”Do you have a place you can take refuge?” he doesn't look at me.

“No.” he turns when he hears my voice, something caught his attention.

“I would offer you my place, but my housekeeper disappeared a couple of weeks ago.” I remember William feeding from an old woman that passed near the house around that period, probably his housekeeper. “Wouldn't want to ruin your reputation.”

“My house is too far away, I won’t be able to find it with the storm.” I start shouting the wind was too strong.

His face was full of indecision, but he made up his mind. He comes closer and offers me his arm.

“I believe we can work on something to save your reputation then. Besides what good will it be to have a reputation but not a life to keep on.” he smiles at me and I start to follow him.

We walk into the house, it feels warms when we enter, and all the lights are off.

“Wait here, I’ll need to lock up the dogs, they are not usually like this.” he climbs the stairs to the next flight and I hear him locking the dogs somewhere inside.

I start looking around, I try to fix my hair as best as I can, without a mirror and no hands, it is dark inside but with my vampire eyes, I can see perfectly.

To my right there is a small library, inside there is a chimney in the far end of the wall, although it has been turned off I can still feel some of the heat coming out from it; on top of the chimney there is a beautiful picture of a landscape. I come closer to the door and push it open a little bit, I see the armchair where he was reading when I saw him outside, next to it there is small table and on top of it, there is the book that he was reading and sure enough, William is right, is Bram Stroker book. I turn when I hear that he is coming closer to the stairs, I don't remember being this close to a human for a long period of time, but I remember some of William’s teaching of not being too fast, blinking every now and then, I hope that they are enough. 

When he comes down he has a lamp in his hands, he starts lighting some of the candles that are on his way making sure that I can see the way. I look up the stairs; the barking is still going on.

“You should excuse me for the noise.” he looks towards where I am looking.” I don't understand what has gotten into them, they are usually very tame”.

“Dogs are usually not very friendly around me.” I shrug my shoulders; I realize that this might be a potential mistake from my side if he has his mind on the book, so I correct myself. “probably they can smell my fear.”

“That might be it.” he smiles at me. “Where are my manners you are probably cold, let me light up the chimney so that you can warm up yourself.” He walks towards the library with the lamp in his hand; I can feel his mind telling me to follow him.

Once I enter I am amazed by the quantity of books that are on the wall that is opposite from the chimney, it is covered with them, from top to bottom, there is a ladder so that the ones in the higher shelves can be reached.

I start to read the different titles on them, and start walking from one end of the bookshelf to the other, some are in some alphabet that I can't understand, others probably in a foreign language. The ones that I can read make me hold my breath “The Vampire” by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, “The Vampire Mistress” by Elizabeth Caroline Grey, “Varney the Vampire”, “ Carmilla” by Sheridan le Fanu , others from Marie Nitze “Le Capitane Vampire”, “La Ville Vampire”. 

William was right, this is not safe at all, I look at the window outside, the storm is now at full force. I can hardly see the fence that is in front of the house.

I turn, the fire on the chimney is already on and it starts to light the room, he is looking at me. I don't know how much he was able to see, but I realize that I just did my third mistake since I walked inside the house:

First, the dogs he is probably aware based on all the literature that animals don't like us.

Second, it was obvious I was reading the book spine trying to make out the titles; the room was very dark a human would probably be stumbling on his way and I was reading the book cover.

Third, I am certain that he saw my reaction when I saw the titles of the books. 

I need to make sure that I fix whatever is salvageable from this situation.

I look amazed at him and put a big smile on my face.

“So many books!” I put as much excitement on my voice as I can. ”I got blown away by the quantity.“

He smiles back at me, but I can see that is not a sincere smile, he is suspicious.

“I am a vivid reader.” he comes and stands next to me. “I really enjoy it, you know.”

“I can see.” my best shot is going to be playing dumb.” I probably haven't even read one single book in my life.”

“You should try it, might open your eyes to a whole different world.” he is not smiling anymore; I detect a double meaning in his words. 

“Really?.” Change the subject, change the subject. “I am sorry sir, I just realized I don't know what to call you?”

“My name is Mr. Helsing, nice to make your acquaintance.” he nods towards me, looking at my face expecting some kind of reaction; I am not falling for it.

“Nice to make your acquaintance Mr. Helsing.” I smile back at him. ”And what is your name Madam?” I look straight at him, if I remember correctly nobody refers to each other by their first name in the human world, but I don't remember ever having a surname, I say the first thing that comes into my mind.

“My name is Miss Kaster.” I try to make a courtesy as I have seen some of the girls in town, it comes out perfectly….I think?

“Nice to make your acquaintance Miss Kaster” He makes a bow. ” May I take your coat?”

“I would rather keep it on if that is okay? The house is still a little bit chilly.” I might not feel cold, but for a human it should be.

“No problem at all.” he didn't expect my answer, so he IS trying to trick me.” just let me know when you start feeling warmer.”

I just nod, he leaves the room and I can hear him going to the front door, he returns and he is no longer wearing a coat. He looks at me, his face is not revealing much.

“I don't mean to pry Miss Kaster, but I was wondering what a young lady such as yourself was doing outside alone at this time of the night and with a storm so close by?”

My mind goes blank, why was I able to create my whole escape plan from William in a second, but I didn't think of a logical explanation for my wandering outside of his house.

“My cat.” I put my most sheepish face that I can. “When we returned home and opened the door it managed to escape. I got worried and decided to go and look for it.” I don't like to lie but this was a very small lie for a good cause and something that could happen, if I had a pet, which salvages my first mistake.

“Won't your family be worried sick about you?” he comes closer to me.

“Probably, once William sees that I am not home.” I try to stop looking at him.

“Who is William? Is he your husband?” My mind is not thinking very clearly. I can feel his internal voice commanding me to tell him the truth, 

“He is my guardian.” I am able to regain some kind of control; but not enough to tell him that he is my husband, which is our usual story. It would be the most logical thing considering that we don’t look anything alike to be related, we are living in the same house, and the age difference will be more appropriate for a husband. Then I realize that I was about to make my fourth mistake, I told him I was a Miss, not a Mrs., so it was a close one.

“Your guardian? “He looks at me doubtfully. 

“Have you met him?” I smile at him but I stop focusing on his eyes, it’s bad enough the force of his calling this strong, I realize it’s worse when I look him straight in the eyes.

“No, I haven't had the pleasure of making his acquaintance.” I hear him chuckle. “But I have seen him once or twice around town. Why aren't you living with your parents or any family member?”

“I am an orphan and somebody decided that he should look after me” I know this might be true at some point so technically I am not lying through my teeth to get away from this situation. 

He looks at me thoughtfully, I don't know if he’s buying the story or not.

“How long has your guardian been in charge of you?” I am surprise by his question, why would he care about that information. I can feel his pull again.

My mind wants to tell him the truth, but that is out of the question, how a 10 year old would be in charge of a newborn if William and I were human? At least that is the age difference I calculate between William and I, he has never reveal that information to me.

“Not very long.” This is the closest thing to truth that I can tell him without raising an alarm, and after all, as a vampire is seems that 20 years is not that long.

He smiles at me, I don’t know if he has figured out that my vague answers are to avoid telling him the truth.

I try to change the subject; I can feel the room has warm up enough for a human not to feel... chilly, as they like to put it.

”It seems that the fire in the chimney has done its job.” I start removing my coat as best as I can.

“Let me help you with that.” he comes behind me and helps me remove it. I can hear him sniffing me and letting a small gasp come out, he is finding my scent very appealing, which I am not sure is a good thing.

He takes my coat and leaves the room, I can feel his minds pull weaken as soon as he leaves the room. I sigh in relief, I am tempted to make a quick run towards the window and see if William is out there, but it is safer to stay put, the last thing I want is to make him more suspicious than he needs to. I just turn hoping that with my vampire sight I am able to see a little bit further outside, but nothing.

I hear him returning to the room and I slowly turn trying to imitate human speed, when he is in the door I hear him gasp, I follow his eyes and I realize that he has just seen for the first time that I don't have any hands.

“What happened to you Miss?” His tone is full of surprise and he is pointing towards my hands. 

“Excuse me!” Honestly, I am not feeling very comfortable that he is not even trying to avoid staring at my missing limbs.

“You know.” seems that he forgot the basic rules of propriety; he is still staring and pointing. I stand up as straight as I can and give him my most despicable look that I can.

“I don´t remember.” my tone is regal and has an authority that I don't remember ever using.

“How can you not remember?.” he turns and looks at my face, he might be taller than me, but there is something in my eyes that makes him back away a couple of steps, but I know that he is intrigued. “Was it something that you were born with?” I can feel the pull of his mind stronger, demanding me to tell him the truth, but what he doesn't know is that I am telling him the truth.

“As I already informed you Mr. Helsing.” my tone is coming out with more authority.” I can not remember, sir.” 

“So it is not a birth defect.” he ignores my not so subtle tactics of me being uncomfortable about talking about it.

“I would kindly appreciate if you drop the subject.” my voice is not kind anymore. “As you can imagine it’s kind of a sore issue for me”.

“Was it in an accident?” he actually comes closer to me. He grabs my arm and pulls me closer to him, I can see some surprise when he touches me feeling the cold through my sleeve, and probably even how strong and hard it feels, but it only distracts him momentarily, he focuses his eyes straight on me not even trying to hide his mind power.

“I already told you the truth.” I pull my arm from him, which doesn't take a lot of strength from my part, but I realize that for a human female of my size it would not have been possible, my fourth mistake, I need to get out, NOW. “I will not be treated in this way.”

I start walking towards the door trying to keep up a human pace; he already suspects way more than what he should. I can see him running towards the door, his mind is commanding me to stay where I am, I try to ignore it as much as I can, I look down the floor, and keep walking but it is slowing me down.

He reaches one book of the bookcase, it is big and thick, and I read “Holy Bible” but when he opens it there is container of water, he throws it to my face and it breaks when it hits me. I can feel the water dripping from my face down to my dress; I close my eyes, trying to keep control of my mind.

When I open my eyes, I look at him, at first he looks surprise, he was expecting something to happen, but he is just looking at a soaked girl.

“Your manners are far worse than I thought.” I restart on my path towards the door, but he is in the way, not budging an inch from it. “Can you please let me thru?”

“What are you?” I avoid his eye contact; I can feel him commanding the answer from me.

“Let me thru?” I don't want to push him, it would require more force than a girl of my size could muster.

“You are not human, that crystal bottle just smashed into your face and you don't even have a scratch on it? You might not be what I thought.” he is trying to make eye contact with me. ”Or…. maybe the stories that I've read might not be entirely true.”

He pulls out of the book a piece or garlic and a crucifix.

“Back away evil creature from the night.” he puts it in front of me, hoping to make me back away, this is really getting on my nerves.

“Sir, I don't exactly know what you are looking for with a cross and some garlic, but I would appreciate it if you remove the items from my face.” I don’t look at him, but my tone is reflecting my current state….Annoyance.

“Do you feel the burn from the Holiness of it?” he chuckles he thinks he is achieving something.

“No. I smell the stretch from the garlic and frankly I am not appreciating it.” I look at his hand the one that is holding the crucifix right in my face, is made out of wood with a silver Christ embedded on it; the tips are square except the bottom part of it which is sharpen.” is such a beautiful piece, you should hang it to display it and not hide in it a book.”

“I command you to turn me into one of you.” he pulls my chin up with his other hand trying to get me to look him in the eye, but I just look up into the ceiling.

“Turn you?” I give a small chuckle; I ignore the pull of his command closing my eyes, thinking of William’s warning. “Whatever do you mean? “ I shake my head.

“You will do as I tell you.” he brings his face closer to mine, but I still look up to the ceiling. ”Turn me into one of you.”

“Sir you are crazy, so if you excuse me, I rather take my chances with the storm than keeping up with all this nonsense that you are talking about.” I can feel that he is pulling his face away from me.

I look down avoiding his eyes, he steps to one side, I walk passed him, towards the door that lets me out of the house.

I am standing in front of the door, there is a chain locking it and a doorknob, I am in a dilemma, with some trouble I can open the doorknob, but the chain that is locking it I would have to break it, but that would be quite obvious. I hear some laughter behind me.

“Is something wrong, Miss Kaster?”

“A gentleman would help a Lady in distress, sir.” I control my temper, he is testing me.

“Well, I am a gentleman madam, but I am not certain if you are a Lady.” I am feeling the anger rising inside me.

“You sir are nowhere near a gentleman, and I am certain that you are as crazy as a goat.” I don't dare to turn and look at him, I keep my stare straight on the door.

“Well, let us see if I am as crazy as you think I am.” I don't need to look to know what just happened, because immediately I feel the burn in my throat and the intoxicating smell of blood surrounding all my breathing air, making it hard to ignore it. I bite my lip and close my eyes. I can be stronger than the call, so far I have not drink human blood in the time that I can remember, I won't ruin all my effort all my resistant for this human that thinks can control me.

I turn and look at him, he made a cut on his finger with the sharp point of the crucifix, I look away from his bloody finger, and make the mistake of looking at his eyes. 

His mind is commanding me to drink from it, to taste the sweetness of his blood, and to make him one of my kind; I don't need to lie to him anymore he knows I am a vampire, all the evidence is pointing that way:

The disappearances that have been going on lately in town, he probably even sacrificed his own housekeeper sending her for an errand close to the house where William and I were staying.

My skin so white, hard and cold, if he was observant enough he would have even notice the snowflake not melting when we were both outside. 

The strength and speed that I was able to display considering how small I am.

The fact that I was able to survive such a trauma of losing my hands, but above all my face when I saw his bloody finger. 

I think of his finger and that breaks the spell, if there is something that is calling me stronger than his mind is the scent of his blood, I look again at it, trying to regain control of my mind and my will. 

“You should take care of that, it might get infected, and believe me, if there is one thing that you don't want is to lose a limb.” I smile at him as innocently as I can, careful not to look into his eyes.

I hear him sigh.

“You are right.” I feel relieved, maybe I am off the hook and can go home to William. “You should stay; the storm might take a long time.”

I shake my head.

“I am tired of listening to so much nonsense, so if I could have my coat I will be on my way.” I see him turning around and grabbing my coat from the hanger, he gives it to me, and I start putting it on as best as I can. I am about to get one arm inside the sleeve when I see the man running towards my chest with the crucifix in his hand the sharp point straight into my heart. I quickly step into one side and see the man passing me by, falling to the floor. I am in shock; did he just try to kill me? What if I was an actual human, would my death be proof enough that I was not a vampire? What is wrong with him???

“Are you okay, sir?” I stay rooted in place looking down at him, while he composes himself.

“So I am right.” I hear him from the floor. ”you are not human at all, you just moved unbelievably fast.”

He gets up and starts walking towards me, the crucifix still in his hand waiting for the chance to try to impale me again with it. 

“Didn't you just trip? I saw you with my own eyes?” I start backing away going the wrong way from the door; I look at the door hoping that it magically opens and that I have my exit. 

“You and I know that is not what it happened, so either you turn me into one of you, or I will kill you.” he opens his shirt and shows me a rosary hanging from his neck.

Is he making fun of me? Did all the holy things that he already tried on me have any effect on me? How is this going to be any different? Obviously I don't even ask it aloud.

He tries to plunge the crucifix again in my chest, I move this time a little slower trying to imitate a lucky move for a human. I slowly run to the door and quickly try to open the door knob; I manage to turn it with my arms, I am about to pull the door and break the chain with my strength but he closes the door before I can put my arm or feet in the gap. 

“You are not going anywhere, I command you to stay here.” I move to one side, he must have a backdoor that I can use to escape, I start running at what I assume is a human pace, trying to get to the other end of the house, but he is able to grab my hair and pulls it, not allowing me to go anywhere.

“Let me go“ I feel him pulling me towards him and I scream in pain. He is trying to drag me back to the library, I am tempted to run the other way and drag him instead, but that will be a little too obvious that I am not a human.

“Seems that you are faster than what I thought and stronger.” I am already inside the library and he is pulling me towards the window. The storm has decreased in intensity and I can see dawn is coming soon.“ But you won't be able to go anywhere in a couple of minutes.” he pushes me in front of the window and I see the daylight coming in and touching my arm.

“You are crazier than I thought.” I am tempted to see his face, he was probably waiting for me to go into flames; but then I look at my arm, a small ray of sun that pass the snow hits briefly my skin. I move my arm but not fast enough I was able to see my skin sparkle as if embedded with a thousand of little diamonds.

I hear him gasp; he also noticed it. He releases my hair and starts stepping away from me.

”I might have been wrong, Miss.” he bends down on one knee.” I-I-I- don't know how to …what to...” I take a chance a look at his face, is full of amazement.” I haven't read a lot about your kind…. However, who would have thought of it…. You are an Angel of God.”

Did he just said I was an Angel of God?

“It all makes sense now.” he starts to mutter fast.” I thought of you as an angel of the demon, but I was wrong, no wonder the holy items did not affect you, for they are a part of you, your beauty is way above anything normal, your golden eyes, your sparkling skin…. You didn’t drink my blood! You have not killed me. Are you an angel or a Nephilim.”

I am trying to make it through all the nonsense that he is saying, I could go with this story and ask him not to reveal to anybody the presence of angels in the world, but the best story that I can leave him with is that I am just a mere human with more common sense than him.

“I am nothing of the sort; you have read too many stories to even make any coherent thought. How about trying to live in a realistic world for a change.” I start walking towards the door; I see my coat on the floor and pull it up with my arm. I will need it to cover me when I go home; there is not a lot of sunlight but enough to attract unwanted attention. I manage to put it on and I feel the power of his mind stopping me. Why can't he just drop the subject?

I hear him coming closer, I don't plan on staying any longer in this house, I start trying to turn the doorknob, the sooner I leave this place the better.

“Marry me.” I hear him saying behind me and that takes me by surprise, of all the things that have been going on in the evening, he expects that... I can almost start laughing.

“First you imply I am something… how did you put it…an angel of the Demon, then you think that I am an Angel of God and now you are asking me to marry you.. “ I start pulling the door, but he stops me.” I need to get home.”

“I am not asking you. I am telling you to marry me.” I can feel his mind control full force, it is a good thing I am not looking at him, but the words marry me, only makes me think of William. He worried about my behavior when I saw this man, He was able to pull me from his mind control by just using a gentle tone, He was worried about me when we got home and I couldn't stop thinking about Mr. Helsing. He felt a pull and he knew it was a dangerous thing, something that we needed to run away from.

Would you be able to kill him if it came to it? My answer back then was no, I thought that this stranger could be someone noble, trustful, but I sadly realize that he is neither. 

He just tried to destroy me using different methods, something that a human would not be able to survive. What is going to happen if I leave this house and he knows something is not right?, he will keep on looking, taking unnecessary lives just to prove that he met an Angel or a Vampire, and with his mind control any human will be his puppet, heck any Vampire could potentially be his puppet.

William knew something was off and by him informing me; I was able to resist to certain extent his commands.

Keeping the existence of our world a secret is our main priority, I can still remember when William taught me the rules, either I can turn this man into one of us, which I don't intend to or I have to kill him. He is a danger to humankind and to our kind, I don't like what I need to do, but it has to be done

I look straight into his eyes and I feel his orders clear.

“No.” my voice is fill with command. ”I will never marry you.”

His eyes get small, he wasn't expecting me to be able to resist him. But my next action takes him by surprise, I start pushing him with my arm backwards, it is so easy, it doesn't take a lot of force and his face is full of wonder

“You can't control people to do things, there is something called free will and it seems there is a lot that you need to learn in that area.” I can hear my voice not being gentle at all.

“What are you?” His face is full of surprise, he was actually seeing how powerful I was, he wasn't expecting this, but I can't stop thinking of the different ways he just treated me. I push him all the way back to the library.

“Wouldn't you love to know.“ I whisper close to his face avoiding eye contact; I have him pinned against the wall, next to the chimney.

“Tell me!” he is intrigued, he can’t take no for an answer. I just smile at him and shake my head; his face is full of anger. He takes my arm and pushes it backwards realizing that is not doing any good at all.

”Release me!” I drop my arm and go back a couple of steps behind using my normal speed and good enough I did, he just tried to hit me, but he is amazed that he is not able to connect his fist with my face.

“So a woman beater, that is no good.” I just shake my head, another item to add to my Why I should kill you list.

“I am not a woman beater, you are not human.” I can see his bravery is shaky.

“I am a female.” he takes advantage of my small distraction and from behind his waist he takes out the crucifix and tries again to plunge it into my heart, I move quickly and he falls into the ground….again . ”and that is not going to work.”

He starts to stand up, but his step falters, he turns and I see that he the crucifix went into his leg, not a very deep cut, but unfortunately a bloody cut. 

The smell of blood starts to saturate the room, my throat is on fire, my every instinct is telling me to go forward and drink from him, I already made my mind up to kill him, he is an unworthy human, a murderer, a controller, a woman beater, and he is a danger to every species. But then will I be able to stop, I will always find an excuse to feed on a human and that is something I promise myself not to do ever again, killing him didn't mean I had to drink from him.

I close my eyes trying to regain control of my conscience, I manage to start resisting the impulse, I stop breathing, he already knows I am not human, and this last display kind of turned the balance towards the vampire theory. I open my eyes; he has taken advantage of my distraction, and is standing next to the chimney, pulling a log from the fire. William once mentioned to me that fire was an element to killing a vampire, I didn't know the details, but I wasn't ready to find out.

I quickly run towards him, he throws me the crucifix and hits me right in the face; it bounces off, and obviously doesn´t leaves a mark where it hits, only manages to distract me briefly. I keep running, but he already has burning log, I stop running and he starts laughing.

“Finally some truth to the myth, right you little monster?” He moves the log from side to side, making me back away.

I don't answer him, I just keep staring where the log is, I keep backing away until I hit the bookcase. He throws the log towards me and I duck and move to one side from where it hit.

“I agree about the monster part, unfortunately, YOU, prove to be a far worse monster than I am” I start walking towards him and he starts to back away from me.

I am briefly distracted by the smell of something burning behind me, I look back and realize that the bookshelf caught fire from the burning log that he threw at me; seems that I need to hurry.

I look back at him and see him running to where I am standing, his hands on the front of his chest ready to push me to where the now burning wall is. I move to one side, leaving my leg in place, which he trips and falls down to where the blazing fire is growing.

I back away in horror; a burning figure comes running out of the fire towards my direction, his clothes have caught fire and his screaming is piercing the silence. I am tempted to tell him drop to the floor and roll over but what would be the purpose of that, I was going to kill him after all, but I can't take it, this is torture, no one should die like this.

I run towards him and hit him as hard as I can on the back of his neck, hearing a crack and knowing that I've broken it. My sleeve catches fire, but with my other arm, I quickly put it out.

I look around and see that the fire has spread to the ceiling and the floor and is moving fast. I hear some whimpers in the floor above and I remember the dogs that he locked up. I run as fast as I can following the barks that have started to reduce significantly, I find them locked up in the second bedroom; as soon as I break the lock and open the door, they run downstairs. 

I reach the first floor find a new predicament, the fire has now spread to the lobby area, I am barely able to hear voices coming from the other side of the house, probably town people coming to help put out the fire and avoid spreading to other houses; the door is no longer an option. I start running to the other side, hoping that there is a back door at the end of the house, the dogs are following me, but keeping their distance. I reach the kitchen area I open the first door that comes in sight and unfortunately is the way down for the basement, I move to the next possible door and find the cupboard, Darn it!!.

There is a loud bang coming from the last possible door, indicating that someone is coming inside, which makes me stop, it could be anyone trying to aid Mr. Helsing. I feel relief when I see William’s silhouette at the other side of it, he sees me and without a word goes inside and lifts me of my feet and carries me out. 

He keeps running at full speed until we are safely out of town and hiding in a nearby forest. He puts me down and starts assessing my condition.

“Are you alright?” There is concern in his eyes; he eyes me up and down.

I can't seem to find my voice. It somehow hits me that I could have died in that fire and because I was not able to ignore an irrational calling. I feel so stupid for not listening to William’s warnings and going along without any further thought.

I give him a brief nod, his concerned look changing from relief to anger.

“What were you thinking?” 

I look down and keep quiet, it is bad enough that I killed a man and now I am going to get a lecture.

“You don't get it, do you?” he continues ignoring the fact that I am ignoring him “this is not a game Maya. That is the kind of human you don't want to mess with”

I look at his face while I process his words.

“How would you know what kind of human that man was?” he didn’t expect me to answer back at him “you were there? Weren't you? You heard us and you did nothing to stop him, or rescue me?” By the look on his face seems that the answer is obvious.

“You got yourself in a position where there were only two probable outcomes. It is times like that, that you learn to take care of your own mistakes and understand the consequences of doing something irrational” I know that his words are true, but it hurts that he is the one telling me all of this.

“So what, you were going to let me die, so that I learned a lesson?” I glare at him.

“You were never in any real danger, you could have gotten out at any moment” there is conviction on his words, but not on his face.

“I believe at the end there was a great possibility of me dying, otherwise you wouldn't have barged in like you did” he stays quiet for a time.

“That was probably the moment where there was a higher chance of you getting hurt, I´ll give you that” his voice is calmer “but you had enough time to go outside before you were in any real danger, I don't understand what took you so long” he is looking inquisitively at me. He is not going to like the answer.

“The dogs” I don't dare to look at his face.

“You risked your life for some dogs?”

“They are living breathing creatures”

“You feed on animals Maya! Are those not living breathing creatures as well?” he does have a point there, but somehow it feels different, I can't relate to how they feel when William hunts them, but somehow I know what it feels to die in that form.

“Can you even imagine what a terrible way to die?” My mind starts wandering and I enter to some kind of trance “the heat becoming unbearable spreading through your body, feeling how the fire is eating you alive, consuming every little particle that your body has, while each breath that you take burns your throat and lungs, until your respiratory system collapses and you die of suffocation. Meanwhile wishing with each and every moment not to be saved, but to die fast enough so that the pain stops” I finally look at William and it looks like my speech took him off guard.

I could swear that I see him mouth the words “Jane” but he stays quiet.

“Then why let the human die that way” his voice has now grown serious and he is looking at me. “Wouldn't it have been more “humane” if you had drank his blood”

“I didn't let him die that way” I feel ashamed of what I did, but at least I can feel proud that I didn't feed from him “I broke his neck with my arm after he caught fire” I lifted my arm to show him the burned piece of my sleeve. I see his brow coming together, his face in high alert; he comes closer, takes a hold of my arm and gently starts examining it. His touch sends an electrical pulse that I've never felt before; spreading through my body and making me catch my breath. 

“Did I hurt you?” he turns and looks at my face, I am not able to answer him, I just give him a small shake of my head. He continues looking at my arm, his fingers tracing my skin where the fire touched it, it feels tender but there is no major pain.

“You'll live” his hand lingers in my arm a little bit longer than it should, he looks at me and smiles, making my insides fill with butterflies, I return his smile; he lets go and returns to his previous spot.

“So what exactly drove you to kill him?” he decides to return to our previous conversation, killing the butterflies that were fluttering in my stomach.

“You should know, you were there” he just confessed that he was there the whole time.

“I was only hearing what was going on. I couldn't risk being seen” he smiles at me “Plus the storm didn't let me see through the window”

I sigh not wanting to relive the story again. I close my eyes trying to relive the moment.

“He knew too much already, our secret wouldn't have been safe anymore. Plus I got the impression that if I let him live, he would continue searching heaven and earth for someone like us, no matter what the price was, or how many lives it took.” 

“You could have turned him to one of us. Would have taken care of the problem, not that I would have appreciated it”

“And become his little puppet, No!” I can see a surprised look on his face. “You were right about the pull, but I think it was….mind control” I close my eyes “I wouldn't like to imagine that kind of power in the wrong hands” I open my eyes and see a look of disbelief on William’s face.

He quickly composed himself but stays thoughtful for a while. 

“We should go, we've already stay too long here” his spell finally breaks, stands up “we've overstayed, we need to move on” I follow him, but I can tell that there is something nagging at the back of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 to be posted on July 31st 2013


	4. The Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After fifty years together Maya has a hard time dealing with William feeding, is not easy being a vampire in a animal diet co-existing with a vampire on a human diet...

Chapter 4. - The Deal.  
“Maya, are you ready?” I look at William; he is already standing up and has all our stuff in the backpack. His eyes are black, I know he is thirsty but I really hate having to go with him, it is not as if I have a choice, wherever he goes I go.

“I can stay here, while you go out.” My voice comes out whinny 

“You know very well why I am not leaving you behind.” William looks back at me his face dead serious.

Last time he left me for a little while I tried to run away, I spend almost two days without William at my side, but as all my previous escape attempts he ends up finding me and I end up frustrated to see that he was able to track me down and realizing how dependent I am from him. 

“Are you still mad about that little incident?” I play the innocent card.

“Little incident? Maya you scared me to death. Those were the worst 48 hours that I have spent in my entire life.” I know that is not true whom is he trying to fool; I honestly think he probably tracked me down in 2 hours and left me the other 46 hours free so that I figure out that I actually need him.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Believe what you want Maya.” he looks back at me seriously.” it is not like I am convincing you, plus I am not letting you out of my sight, so let’s get going.” he says with a smile in his face.

Moron! I stand up, taking as much time as I can actually muster, I know he is thirsty and I am not planning on making the process any easier on him.

“You are aware that the same kindness that you show to me I am going to show to you.,” he says smiling back at me, damn! Why do I need to depend so much on him?

“Fine!” I start moving a tad faster, I just hear him laugh. ”I think you are just afraid that I might outsmart you and actually get away with it.” I say trying to get back on the previous subject.

“You don't know what is out there Maya.” his face is now serious.

“What a bunch of humans and some vampires, I don't know how is that dangerous.” we are already walking towards the city.

“Maya, didn't you learn that not all humans or vampires are as nice as you think and considering your situation “he points at my hands.” you can't defend yourself.”

“I can perfectly well defend myself from the humans, thank you very much.” I say trying to save a little bit of my dignity.

“Okay, I'll give you that, but it doesn't take a very strong vampire to get you, now does it?”

“Like I should know, we hardly ever come across vampires, if you and I were not one I would even believe that we are a myth.” we have only met a little more than 5 vampires during this past fifty years, and by met I mean catch their scent. 

“Come on Maya, it has not been so terrible, now has it?” His face shows concern, but I know he is just being theatrical.

“Could be worse.” I feel a small punch from William in my shoulder.” Okay it has not been bad.” I start to laugh a little.

“So why are you constantly trying to run away from me? “ He looks at me his face is serious.

“I don't know, I just know I need to hide and run away from you.” I look back at him, he is no looking at me, he is looking at the floor, and his mind has gone somewhere else. “And like that, you can get cryptic, sometimes it’s just hard to tell what you are thinking.”

“You can be perceptive Maya, but still I don't approve of having to go after you every now and then.” his previous mood returning, he puts a playful smile.

“And I don't approve to have to be attach to your hip every single minute of every single day, I do need my space occasionally.” I say seriously.

“I'll give you some space.” He separates from me a couple of steps. ”see!”

“Ha, ha, ha…“ my laugh is so fake; he just starts laughing. “you know that is not what I mean.”

“I know what you mean, but that is not going to happen.” He stops walking and his face suddenly turns. 

I perceive the smell that attracted William attention a scent of a human, is a female my throat starts to feel like is on fire, but I try to keep myself composure. I can be stronger than the call, think of that human, a female probably not too old but not so young, her scent is mixed with other, younger ones she has a family and if she is in the outskirts of town. She is probably looking for something to feed them; killing her means she leaves orphans. Her instincts will tell her to run, she will try but against one of us she does not stand a chance, once she is captured she will look into those beautiful black eyes and she will not be able to look anything else, terror will be in her thoughts, terror for her and terror of her little ones …. 

My mind goes through so many images, I can clearly hear her last scream, I can feel her pain, terror and worry, she knows she is going to die and she can't do anything to avoid it. I open my eyes, I am no longer thinking on the burn on my throat I can only think of her. I look at William pleading with my eyes to spare her life, but he is no longer looking at me, his instincts have kicked in and he starts running towards his prey.

I can't stand it, I have to get away from there I don't want to hear her last breath, her last scream. 

I turn around and start running the opposite way of where she is. I really don't know where I am going but I just have to continue. William will is not even be aware of me disappearing, but he is going to be so mad once he figures it out; I don't care, anything is better than hearing that last thump in her heart.

I come to a town, but I don't want to slow down my pace, so I run around the village, trying to get as close to the humans as I can without being seen to try to masquerade my scent, but I know that is going to be hard. I pass a small creek and there are some men skinny dipping and some of their clothes are on the ground I steal the strongest smelling of the shirts and manage to pull it on top of me, and I keep running.

A few more miles I feel the rain that is starting to fall down hitting me in my face and soaking my clothes getting me damp from head to toe; this is going to erase my tracks, he is going to get so mad, but I need to hide, I need to disappear, I can't take it anymore.

I keep on running, but if there is something that I've learned is that I won't get far if I keep this pace, he will be able to catch up with me in no time. 

I start looking at my surroundings looking for a good hiding place, unfortunately there isn't much to work with. If I hide in a tree or at ground level, he will be able to catch my scent easily. I look up to the mountain and voilà, there is a small cavern on the top that is partially hidden and will be hard to find it if you don't have the right angle to see it. 

I climb the mountain and luck is on my side; at the hard part I am able to jump from rock to rock.

I reach the cavern and slump down on the floor. I am finally able to calm myself; inhale I can see my chest raising, exhale, my chest comes down. 

My mind starts to clear up and try to make sense of what just happened. I am aware of what we are and what our body requires so that we can keep our strength, but my mind can't get away from those thoughts, why does a human life needs to be sacrifice in order for our thirst to be satiated?.

I'm certain I am the worst vampire in history that has ever existed, not only I am the most inadequate physically, probably also mentally. I hug my legs and put my head where my knees are and I wait for William to find me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s been long, not an usual thing for William, he usually finds me right away but now?.... I have seen day and night pass several times, my thirst is starting to feel painful in my throat. He is probably making me go thru this to teach me a lesson…. as he usually points out, “Maya where will you go? How will you feed? How will you be able to defend yourself?”

I only wish that I could explain to him and that he understands what my mind goes thru each time he has to feed, unfortunately it would be asking too much to him and somehow I get it: why something that should come so easy for any of us should be a concern to me?

He will think of me as a crazy invalid little vampire, but I just can't do it. I can't help it if I have all those images in my mind and that I am able to create a story behind the victim and somehow picture what is going thru their mind while life is being drained out of them. It most certainly doesn't help afterwards having the lingering scent of that human in the air.

I know an animal also have feelings… let’s face it, they are living breathing creatures, but somehow it is not as bad, I can't relate with them, I was never one of them. As a human it was something that I most likely ate, I can always think that I am still partially on a human diet. The satisfaction of their blood in my system is not the same, but is better than having all those thoughts in my mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time passes; I have distracted myself with some of the spiders that are in the cave seeing how they are knitting their webs, preparing their little traps and then seeing them catching their prey.

I lose track of time, could only be days, maybe weeks but I just stay here I am a small statue inside the cave. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I open my eyes and the sun is coming out, I can feel the warmth inside of the cave, I decide that is time to come out of my hiding place and have some fresh air. I first put my arm outside into the sun and see the little sparkles in it, it always catches me by surprise; I walk a little more and now the sun hits my face, is so refreshing letting it warm my stone cold skin. I close my eyes to let my other senses work better I feel a gust of wind caressing my face and I laugh a little, my hair is moving freely in the air, I hear the wind in my ears the breeze soft. I am about to sniff letting my sense of smell detect my surroundings but I stop remembering I am thirsty and this will only create more pain in my throat, I stay like this for a little while.

I open my eyes expecting to have a great view of the forest below me, but I am only able to see William standing in front of me. His handsome face glittering with the sun rays hitting him, making him look even more handsome, I am about to think that this is a much better view than the one that the mountains have to offer, and then I see his murderous look and that certainly stops me in my tracks.

“Get in the cave Maya.” his voice is not kind.

“Why?“ How does he dare use that tone with me?

“NOW!!!” Okay, I don't think it is up for discussion. 

I reluctantly turn on my heels, and walk back into the cave.

He follows me in; I can feel his stare on my head. I turn and look straight at him.

“What are you trying to accomplish Maya? You think this is funny, cause I most certainly don't think so.” his voice comes out like a growl which only makes me furious.

“Oh! So you think I do this for fun?” I put as much sarcasm as I can “oh yeah, let’s see how long it takes William to find me this time? Oh no, let's go with this one instead, let's see how totally worthless I am without you? Yeah William! I do this to make YOU mad and make myself feel useless.”

“Have you ever thought what these little outbursts do to me?” This time he is not growling but he is still furious.

“Have you ever thought of what your feedings do to me?” I am furious as well and I say the first thing that comes to my mind.

He stops and looks at my face, his face is no longer furious, my eyes must be black now, it has been a while since I last fed I know it because of the burn in my throat that I have been trying to ignore all this time . I start turning so that he can't look at them, but he grabs my face gently, I sigh and look back up at him.

“What do my feedings do to you?” His tone is more in control.

“Does it even matter?” I look back at him, honestly I know that this is a crazy idea, but is MY crazy idea, I don't expect him to understand me 

He looks straight into my eyes; and to my surprise, I start to see some kind of understanding.

“Stay here.” he says.

He leaves so fast, I go to the end of the cave and I slump back into the position I was in. It doesn't take William long to return, his steps are heavier than usual and I can hear the sounds of a hurt animal, as soon as he steps in I hold my breath the smell of bloody animal is probably saturating the cave, I keep my head down trying not to look at it.

“Come on Maya, you need to feed.” His voice tries to be gentle, but I can still detect some traces of his previous humor.

I shake my head. He comes and sits next to me. A little while passes and we are just sitting there. Why did I open my mouth, he was right I should not run away. 

“You should really just put the poor animal out of its misery”.

“Wh….“I try to reply but the scent of the blood hits me hard and I can't control it. I look up and the elk is so close to me his eyes look into mine, they are begging me to kill him, my instincts overpower me, and before I am aware of anything I am already next to it piercing its throat and letting the blood satisfy my thirst. When I hear its last thump from its heart, I stand up and sit back next to William, not looking at his face. I know I should thank him, but I am still mad at him.

We are silent for a while, not looking at each other, I am just looking at the wall that is in front of us, trying to calm down.

“You had me worried Maya.” He decides to break the silence. “You really outdid yourself this time.”

“How long?” there is no emotion in my voice.

“Three weeks.” his voice is calmer than before

“Huh, looks like I broke my record.” I can help on smiling a little bit at this.

“Nice touch the stinking shirt and hiding in the cave.” I look down and I realize I am still wearing it.” I was about to give up in the area, lost your scent near the creek but the gust of wind brought some of your scent and drove me right up here.”

“My bad.” I still wasn't looking at him. “Why didn't you just, give up?”

“It's not that easy.” his voice sounds sad.

“Wouldn't it have been easier?” I finally look at him; his eyes are not looking at me, they are looking at the wall in front of us.

“I will never give up on you Maya.” he looks down and corrects himself.” I can't.”

“Too bad.” I look again up to the wall not caring the effect that my words have on him.

“Maya, why do you run away? “ I sigh, his voice is no longer mad, maybe I can reason with him.

“Sometimes I do it on purpose.” I smile a little bit. “To annoy you, but like this time I just had to run.” I put my head back in my knees.

“Why did you have to run?” I can hear the curiosity in his voice.

I turn my head and look at his face. I sigh.

“I don't want to see the terror of their eyes, feel the pain of their life being drained out and hear the last thump of their heart, it’s as if it is happening to me. I can imagine their illusion, picture their life, and somehow is painful.” I look back at the wall. “And I know it doesn't make any sense at all… at least for us. I mean why should I care?”

“But somehow you do care.” he says matter of fact.

I nod.

“That’s why you only drink animal blood?.” I know he is looking at my face.

I shrug my shoulders. I turn and look back at his face.

“So what do my little outbursts do to you?” I try changing the subject.

“I already told you before. You scare me to death, and that is hard considering I am a vampire” there is a smile on his lips which manage to improve my bad humor.

“Liar.” I am also smiling now.

“Why don't you believe me?” He laughs a little.

“Because who am I to you?” I question.

He shrugs his shoulders. 

A little while passes and we are silent still looking at each other.

“Let's make a deal, I know that my feedings are painful for you and you leaving me is… Scary“ I am about to say something, but he raises his hand to stop me. ”How about if I try to follow your diet, but you stop running away from me.”

“Oh William, no, I mean it is one thing that I am special about our eating habits, but I can't change who you are.”

“Maya, we are not discussing changing me to somebody else; I am just proposing feeding differently.”

“My running away is really messing with your head.”

“After this last stunt, you have no idea.” his eyes widen and I can hear a little bit of worry in his voice.

“Okay, I will try as long as you try as well.”

“Then we have a deal.” he is smiling widely.

He really doesn't have any idea what he is getting on, but then again, do I?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For sooner updates log to http://twidiaries.weebly.com/chapter-four.html, next chapter would be posted on August 6th, 2013


	5. Chapter 5.- Vampire Ghost

Chapter 5. - Vampire Ghost.

Maya Point of View

We have finally settle down after many weeks of traveling; the small cottage we found in the woods is like an oasis in the desert; I don´t understand why is empty. But honestly I don´t care, as long as it has a roof and a place I can sit down without being in the damp floor, is fine by me.

The cottage is small, not much to look at, just one small bedroom at one end of the house with a mattress on the floor. There is a parlor area that divides the bedroom from the kitchen area with only a sofa to sit in. At the far end a kitchen that has a small fireplace, a couple of cupboards hanging from the wall and a small table that sits four, although there is only two chairs.

The table is currently my way to get on Williams nerve, it wobbles when you put your weight on it. He already "fix it", which means he put a little piece of wood in its legs to level it, but I constantly keep kicking it out of place. He gets mad at me, but I´ve been playing innocent and blame it on the ghost of the cabin, obviously he doesn´t believe me.

I hear the door open and I quickly kick the little piece of wood, his eye caught the movement of my feet, shoot!... play it cool.

"So, the ghost of the cabin is still having a good time annoying me, right?" His face is accusatory, but I don´t flinch.

"Must be, I did feel a cold sensation going through my body " I am keeping my face in place, looking straight into his eyes, I need to keep eye contact, otherwise he will call my bluff.

"Sure, especially since us vampires can feel cold" Okay that wasn´t the smartest thing to say, he is on to me, I need to change the subject.

"It has been a while since we fed" my face is still serious.

"Well actually it's been a while since YOU fed, which is strange considering that I brought you a nice little bear a couple of hours ago and left it right there" he says dead serious and pointing at one corner of the floor.

"You are lying, you never brought a bear, and there is no body or blood" I went outside a couple of hours ago to try to clear my mind and I am certain there wasn´t anything there when I returned, not even a mess to probe the existence of such an animal in the cabin.

"Well then maybe the ghost in the cabin took it" he says while he bends down and puts back in place the little piece of wood in the leg of the table.

"Why would the ghost take it?" I need to keep the façade, but I am trying to suppress a giggle.

"I don´t know, maybe the ghost is a vampire ghost" he says standing up and sitting in a chair in front of me.

"You know we are immortal, a vampire ghost wouldn't exist" I say finally giggling.

"Technically we can be killed, so we are not immortal "his face is serious for the first time since he walked back into the cabin, his thoughts seem to be lost. "So let us say we get to live a long time, shall we"

"Oh, right "It's been so long since I´ve come across any kind of danger that I forgotten that we could actually be killed "so what's for dinner, since the vampire ghost took away mine" I try to get his mind back to the present.

"Oh well, let's see" he stands up and opens the first door of the cupboard imitating what a human would do, "we have a nice little spider in this one" he moves to the next door, "… a raccoon in this one" that sounded better than the spider …."But I wouldn´t recommend it, since it's been dead for a while" I can´t smell any raccoon dead or alive; he is obviously joking "…or, you could go out into the woods and hunt your own dinner" he looks back at me smiling.

"Excuse me?" Now I am mad, I was not expecting that answer since I have never hunted, or at least that I can remember.

"Oh don´t worry, there is a whole wilderness out there, I am sure you will find something that entices your appetite"

"Don´t be mean William, you know I can´t do it" to make my point clear I raise my hands or at least where they should be.

"Oh don´t worry, I am sure the vampire ghost can help you with that" he gets up and starts walking towards the door "or you can always ask me to teach you" and then he leaves the house.

How could he do this to me, I am so mad at him, my first reaction is to kick the little piece of wood from under the table and wait for him so that he can have a piece of my mind.

…...

I keep waiting and waiting, but somehow William has not come back to the cabin, each hour that passes my mood only gets crabbier, my throat is in pain, I need to feed. Wonder if there was ever a vampire that died by starvation? , do I really want to find out? Will he even care if I die? Probably not that is why he left me here to fend for myself.

More hours have passed and I start to consider the risks of being thirsty, what would happen if I come around a human, could I still control myself? Do I want to kill a human? , no. So it looks like my choices have become limited, risk killing a human or try to hunt for myself, my answer is clear, I sight and stand up… Let the hunting game begins.

I walk out the door and I don´t know where to start, should I wait for a wild animal to come near the cabin or should I go looking for it. I try to remember how William usually does it; I close my eyes and suddenly the smells in the air are powerful.

I inhale and exhale trying to imagine what kind of animals are out there, a draft of wind brings a new scent; I sniff and detect a smell that is provoking enough….a deer… and not just one, a large herd of deer; my head turns towards it and run towards that sweet smell.

I stop a few feet from them, they had not detected my approach and I silently crouch, I am like a little cat ready to pounce on my victim, I have not forgotten my instinct. Why was I even worry? That will show William.

I need to time this perfect, so I should select the perfect victim. I scan the herd and a big deer that gets my attention; I am able to see the pulse on its neck and hear the beating of its heart calling me, no, begging me to drink its blood.

I can no longer hold back and jump towards that big deer. I try to take him down but I can´t get a hold of it, my arms slip. I try to bite it but with no luck, I am too late, the herd is running away and I am slump in the floor doing the aftermath of what just happened.

I cannot give up, I won´t, I know I can do this, one way or the other I am going to have a deer.

I try again, at least I know that I got the first part right. I manage to track down again the herd and I am quietly waiting for the one to actually come close but now they are nervous; any small sounds makes them run away and I find myself tracking them down over and over.

Finally, I manage to get close to them. I know I can do it, I am crouching ready to jump at them, no noise so far and the big one is close to me. PERFECT! I jump as quietly as I can, and I am able to grab it, but he starts running, and I can´t keep a hold of it and goes away.

I am very frustrated and thirsty; I sit in the meadow thinking what else I can do, trying to remember all those times that William has hunted an animal for me. I know that I am doing exactly what he does, but is not working.

"So how is the hunting going? " William whispers in my ear, making me jump on the spot. I turn and sure enough, he is right beside me, he is so fast and quiet I envy him.

"Stupid vampire" I say referring to William.

"So our ghost friend is not being much help?" he says with a smile in his lips.

"Oh no!, he has been lots of help!, we just had a couple of mountain lions over there, we were just looking for dessert" I use as much sarcasm that I can.

"Good then" he starts looking into the horizon, he has heard something "then you should move fast, there is a moose nearby, that way" he points with his finger where he was looking, I am able to smell it now "Try not to be too late back in the cabin; I am starting to get kind of lonely." I am about to give him a piece of my mind but when I turn he already disappeared.

"Good luck" his voice comes out of nowhere.

Argh, almost say aloud, but I don´t want to lose that moose.

I run swiftly towards the direction that William pointed out and sure enough, there it is. I get in a crouch, I am ready to jump, but I stop; how am I going to get a stupid moose, when I was not able to even get a deer? Those things are bigger and I think probably faster, I can´t think clearly and my thirst is not helping.

"You know, it is going to run away if you don´t act fast" Again William is right next to me whispering.

"I can´t, okay, you win!" I scream the words at him.

"Now you´ve done it. It is going to take a while before we catch it" He sights.

"Are you blind?" I move my arms showing the matter of the no hands "I can´t do it, I have try tricking them, biting them, pouncing at them, but I can´t grab the stupid animal and I am just so thirsty"

"Good, we need the motivation" he says matter of fact ignoring the fact of the no hands situation.

"Great, so you are also deaf!" if only looks could kill, he would have dropped death in that instant. "I- CAN´T- DO- IT, all right"

"That kind of attitude is not going to get you anywhere" he smiles at me, but I just shake my head "Do you want my help or not?" He is no longer smiling, and his face is all business.

"Fine" I reluctantly accept.

"Okay, I have been observing" I look back at his face hate coming out of me "don´t get mad I need to know what you are doing, in order to see what we can chan….." I give him a murderess look." …..improve and first of all congratulations you were able to track down animals and approach them without being detected" this calms me a little bit at least I know I did something right.

"But Maya, why are you going for the big and healthy animals?"

"What?" I ask startled "because they sound the tastier"

"Okay, I understand why you would be attracted to those, but let us think here for a minute, wouldn´t those be the stronger and fastest of the entire herd."

That stops me right on my tracks, he is right, I always went for those and there was an actual logic to what he was saying.

"Yes" I say through my teeth.

"Okay, so in your next try you will go for the weakest in the group, try hearing to their hearts and see which one would be an easier catch. Got that?" He looks straight into my eyes.

I nod. My head is now starting to throb of the thirst, being so close to feed several times without achieving it, didn´t help to improve it.

"Second, why go for the same herd? They were already alert by the second time you were after them. Any sound would scared them off" I nod again, I can´t find my words anymore, but he is right, I was able to even see that by myself.

"There is a whole forest here to hunt, if at first you don´t succeed you need to look for something else, don´t lose your element of surprise. Okay?" again he looks straight to my eyes and I nod once again.

"Third item. Why use the plain that is an easy way for the deer to escape? there is a cliff a couple of miles down there, some wild wolfs that way" he is pointing with his fingers the different directions." and a big elevation which most animals won´t be able to jump, you need to know your surroundings and use whatever is at hand"

"Okay, got it, anything else." I say desperately.

"Nope that´s about it. Now repeat them to me."

"What?" Is he kidding me?

"I can see you are thirsty, so I don´t know how much you actually got from what I just said." He is crazy. I need to stand up and start hunting soon, I now smell a different herd of deer, and my throat is on fire. I get up and start running, but William is already in front of me.

"Maya, you are not going anywhere until you repeat what I said, and you know you cannot outrun me" there is a smug tone in the last part of the phrase, which is only making me feel angrier with him.

"Go for the weak one. Don´t lose the element of surprise. Know your surroundings and use whatever is at hand." I am not sure if he is able to make up what I just said, considering how fast I said it.

"Good you were putting attention after all. " he is impress "One last thing Maya, whatever works for me when I am hutting, might not work for you. Look for your own style" I look at him and give a desperate nod "I know there is a different herd over there, so you got the second point right, let's go and see what is close by that we can use to help you with the hunting" I am about to complain but he already run off.

I follow him and we finally reach the heard. I am about to jump at them, but he is right, if I mess things up, I will have to start over again. I regain some control and start scanning the surroundings, and sure enough, there is the cliff he mentioned during his explanation.

"Maya, now close your eyes and tell me," he is whispering so low near my ear not a single deer flinch, which is the complete opposite of what my stomach is feeling considering how close he is to me. He continues fixed on the lesson "which one is the weakest in the herd"

Is hard to concentrate after feeling his breath on my ear, but the burn on my throat is a constant reminder of what I need to do. I close my eyes and I can hear their heartbeat, I start scanning with my ears each one, I detect which one is weakest. I open my eyes and see the deer, he is not very big, but it should do. I move my head to show William, which is the weakest.

"Good Maya" he sounds happy "now, what can you use that can help you?"

I move my head and point towards the cliff, I don´t want to make any sound.

"Very good Maya, now go hunting, I´ll be watching" he disappears silently from my side.

I let my instincts kick in, I am lucky enough that the weakest one happens to be closest to the cliff, I start moving feline like , getting closer, my steps are so silent the others deer are not aware of my presence.

I ignore the others smells I need to keep focus. I am so close, I can taste its scent in my mouth, and just like that, I know it doesn´t stand a chance.

I jump right in front of it; it tries to back away but realizes the cliff is there. He tries to run but I am able to read its movements, all of the sudden everything is so slow, the rest of the herd is starting to run, but this one is not going anywhere.

I focus on its legs, so thin, so fragile, and so breakable; before it tries another move, I slide my leg and kick it in one of the front legs. The deer falls to the floor, his front leg broken. I go down and bite its neck, piercing an artery savoring every drop that goes through my throat not quiet calming my thirst but enough to feel satisfied. I drop the carcass of the deer; I know there is not a single drop of blood in its body.

"I did it "I can´t believe it, no hands and I was still able to hunt down my own food.

I turn around and see Williams face full of amazement and pride.

"I knew you could do it Maya!, you WERE putting attention " he starts running towards me and lifts me up from my feet, taking me by surprise considering that he avoids physical contact as much as he can. I know based on our one hundred years together that this quantity of contact is reserve for emergencies, like hold on we need to get the hell out of here situations, not the you did great! Situation.

I am about to say something but my face is so close to his, his eyes have an intensity that I´ve never notice, his wide smile together with his scent make me feel dizzy….but in a good way . He starts leaning towards me and then he stops and stays frozen.

He lowers me and sets me on the ground, the smile of his face disappearing and the light that was in his eyes gone.

"Do you want to try it again?." He smiles again, but is not sincere as the last one.

"Sure, practice makes perfect" I add happily hoping to see the previous light back on his face.

"Excellent, let´s go and get that moose" I feel disappointed when I don´t see the light. Then his words hit me…

"The Moose?" I do want to try again; I can use more blood in my system, but the Moose? " how about going baby steps"

He looks back at me, with questioning eyes.

"I don´t think the moose is nowhere the weakest animal in the forest" I add remembering one of his hunting rules.

He starts laughing aloud, I like it, I find myself smiling.

"How about this time we work as a team", I am sure he won´t be easy on me, but something about working as a team makes me happy.

"A team?" he looks at me as if I am speaking in a strange language.

"You know you and I, working together" he smiles at me.

"I know what a team is Maya"

"So…?"

"Okay, but you should let our vampire ghost down gently" what does he means with this? I know that this question is also showing in my face " he is not going to like it when you tell him that he is out of your team" I can´t help at laughing aloud at this.

…

We return to the cabin after we catch the moose, which wasn´t as easy as the deer, to be honest, it help having William by my side coaching me and pointing some items that I could improve for my future hunts.

However, a question has been on the back on my mind since we started walking back to the cabin, I wanted to ask William, but his good mood has disappeared and he has become distant, something is also on his mind bothering him.

We enter the house and walk to the kitchen, he sees the piece of wood that holds the table up, out of place and immediately goes and works on it. I keep looking at him, wondering when would be a good time to ask him.

"Uhmm" I bend down to be at his same height, while he is testing the table to see if it still wobbles.

He looks at me briefly

"What is it Maya?"

"Are you planning on leaving me?" I finally get it out of my chest, I have been stressing about this point since I thought about it, but it seems like the only logical explanation for what he just did. I don´t want him to leave me, but he has probably grown tired of me.

He stops what he is doing and looks at me.

"No. What made you think of that?" the look that he gives me confirms that he is telling the truth.

"Then, why did you teach me how to hunt? "

He stays quiet for a little while, moving the piece of wood until it is finally in the right position.

"For the obvious reasons" he says lightly.

His answers takes me by surprise, I keep thinking what the obvious reasons should be, but nothing comes into my mind. I finally give up.

"Which are…?"

"I was tired of being your cook and waiter" he says playfully and smiles at me. I make a face and roll my eyes. I know he is joking me.

"Really?"

"No" he is serious, he gets from under the table and stands up, I follow his lead "something about our vampire ghost made me think, what would happen if I die? Would you be able to sustain yourself if I was gone?" he test the table to see that it holds up " I know that you would figure it out at some point, but is better to be prepare for any possible outcome. "

I don´t like where this conversation is going, I know that if at some point I try to run away again, my feeding would be an issue. However, the thought of William dying never cross my mind….and I don´t like it….AT ALL, come to think of it, I am not liking the simple thought of him not being with me.

"William, are you planning on dying any time soon?"

"Actually no, but death is not something we can´t schedule, now is it?" he finally looks at my face.

"Okay, but I rather you stay alive and hang out with me" my words take him by surprise "Even if you don´t have to be my cook and my waiter anymore"

He smiles, rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"I´ll try not to die then"

Chapter 5.5. - Moving thru Time

William´s Point of View

Life with Maya during this pass one hundred and thirty five years have been if anything interesting. We have seen the world pass right before our eyes and I am amazed of what the humans have been able to progress during all this time, we are witnesses of some of the greatest achievements and at the same times of the worst things that humankind has done.

For Maya and me it feels that time has frozen for us, and I don´t mean it just because our bodies never change, but like we are at a dormant state, never moving forward, just making sure that we stay alive.

We decided some time ago that we needed stay in touch with the human world and "not hide under a rock" as she put it, in order to guarantee the secrecy of our specie. With the new developments, technology, machines and even weapons, things aren´t so easy like in the good old days.

We have come more and more in contact with the humans but at the same time keeping our distance afraid to give Maya a reason to run away from me, because of a moment of weakness.

We created fake identities that allowed me to perform small jobs, especially on constructions sites at nighttime or at dangerous sites for humans, these last one I am usually on my own without a crew and those are the ones that Maya enjoys more because she can tag along and help me as much as her impediment allows her.

Those small jobs together with the identities, allowed us to create a savings account and thru the years, the account is no longer small, at all. Not that we really need the money, we can pretty much steal anything we want, but Maya has been adamant that we need to earn our own living, just as any human has to, if we want a nice car we need to work for it.

She keeps constantly surprising me. I would have thought that after all this time I would have known her every move, her every thought, but if anything it usually occurs the opposite.

She has a good heart and she is quite smart, she can learn at an amazing speed, even for a vampire. I can easily imagine her going to school and getting herself in trouble, not because of bad grades, but because she already knows the lesson, and gets bored and does something else, like annoy the teacher.

She is very observant, I have seen her following humans with her eyes and then she tells me the story behind that specific human, most of the time she is 85% right.

She is an avid reader, which means I am now also, considering that she has trouble changing the pages of the book and outsources that job to me. I thought when we discovered computers that she would like to read the books electronically, but she is reluctant and honestly I am glad about that, this has been something that we can share and spend time together.

As far as I am concern regarding how much she remembers of her life prior to waking up in that brothel, she has none, which is strange considering how she knew how things worked in the world, what things were for, even how society worked; but some of her attitudes or things that she says make me think the opposite.

We´ve become very good friends, and I think she has been happy, that doesn´t means that we haven´t had our confrontations, as smart as she is, she can be stubborn as well, and is hard to change her mind once it's made up. One thing that we haven´t been able to surpass is her clothes. I can see how much it pains her when she see the human females, all dress up according to whatever fashion statement exists at that moment and her having to wear baggy clothes, but I already told her, she can only wear what she can put on and take off on her own. I am using enough of my self-control with the call of the human blood as it is, I don´t want to test it having her so close, especially on that specific activity.

The more I know Maya the less I believe that she deserved the punishment that Aro gave her, whatever is the reason that she got it. Which now puts me at a split road; in one side the Volturi have established laws that have made our lives as vampire go by without the humans noticing us and trying to destroy us, giving us also as a society a guideline and a reason to follow them, which is a good thing. On the other side of the road, I am questioning some of the methods that they are using to achieve it, Maya being my best example.

How much longer does she need to be in this situation so that she can learn a lesson?

Each day I feel like hanging by a threat expectant to know if at some point they will call upon us to return to Volterra or not. When I was assigned to this job it never cross in my mind that it would be this long, maybe a decade or two tops, but the William that I was when I was appointed to the job and the William that I am now, are completely different.

So far I haven´t heard any news from the Volturi, not that there is any way for me to get information, considering that I have avoided contact with any vampire. We disappeared from the vampire world, as they have disappear from ours.

My greatest concern and hope at the same time is that they are no longer in charge of our world and that we are just on standby. I am happy being with Maya I no longer wish to be a Soldier in the Volturi Guard, and I want to be with her. The biggest question that I have is, if she was free to choose, would she want to stay with me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author´s Note:
> 
> Please review the story.
> 
> Next chapter is going to be posted on: August 13th, 2013.


	6. Chapter 6.- Classified Information

Chapter 6.-Classified information

Maya´s Point of View.

House sitting has turn out one of the best ideas William has had, we get to move a lot and have a house without bringing to much attention to us or how we don´t age. Who would have thought a couple of vampires could get a job in the human world?

The house we are currently sitting is located in a nice private area near the mountains; as we understood the owners mentioned they use this house during the wintertime for skiing, but during summer and autumn it isn´t very interesting for them. They would rather be at the beach than at the mountains. All I can say is good for them, and even better for us, too bad winter is almost here. I will miss the place.

The house has two bedrooms, a big kitchen and an even bigger play room, with a large television, a porch out front and a backyard that extends to the forest. It is very cozy and not very far away from the skiing area. Not that we actually care about that, especially in autumn.

I am sitting at the porch waiting for William, he told me that he was going to go hunting, I decided to stay back and enjoy a little of ME time. We usually don´t split much, but today after our little argument regarding our next house sitting job he probably needed some time to cool off as I know I needed. Long time ago this would never have been an option but after our little deal we have both kept up our word.

I know that he is probably coming back after agreeing that my reasoning has a lot a validation and if not… I'm not backing out this time. I want for winter a place with snow; he was looking for something more down south.

I am sitting down in a couch swing, my legs are up and I am just looking at nothing. I close my eyes and start hearing the different sounds the animals are doing. You can hear some squirrel moving around in a nearby pine, and at the other side of the house there is a bird nest; the chicks are alone and most likely hungry considering the noise they are making. In the neighboring house the little kids are watching some uninteresting cartoon and their mother is calling them to go down for dinner.

I recline in the swing and sniff the air; I know I should be hunting, but I will wait for William to come back just in case he is still moody. I´ll have an excuse to leave him alone a little longer if that is the case.

I sniff again and there is a new scent in the air, I know what that scent corresponds to. I sit up straight and open my eyes, they are close by. If I was able to pick up their scent I am sure they already pick ours as there is a lot of indecision going on in my mind.

"William!" I say aloud, hoping he is nearby to pick up my call. Nevertheless, I can´t hear him approach.

"Hello." I turn towards the voice, I look down and sure enough, there is a male and a female. He is tall and very muscular, but his face is not showing any indication that he is looking for a confrontation, he is actually smiling. I relax my pose I don´t want to start any fight if there isn´t any need for it, especially not with him.

Next to him is a tall blonde-haired female, she is beautiful and her face is not showing a lot of emotion.

"Hello." I say putting up my best smile, I need to be friendly, I don´t stand a chance against both of them…. or even one them. I remember William once saying to me, not all vampires are good, but I need to believe some of them might be. I hope they are one of them.

"My name is Emmet Cullen, and this is my wife, Rosalie." He starts walking towards the porch.

I stand up from the swing and hide my arms in my back, I don´t want them to know about my condition. I think is too late, the female has noticed something, but it is still better not to risk it.

"Hi, my name is Maya, please have a seat." They walk closer and sit in the nearby couch. When they look up I can clearly see their eyes, they are golden like mine would be… if I had hunted. I am speechless, I remember William telling me that he had never seen it before.

"We were hunting in the area and we came across your scent, we are sorry if we are disturbing you." Emmett's voice is still friendly but the female is keeping quiet, studying me perhaps.

I stay quiet for a little while as I am still amazed to see their eye color. Finally, I realized I am being rude by not answering them.

"None at all, me and my….friend are staying here for a while, trying to…relax." I try to sound cool about it, but somehow it comes off wrong "Sorry, I am just a little nervous."

"Why should you be nervous?" asks the female.

"I don´t get to see a lot of our kind very often, we move a lot." I hope that this last part explain my previous sentence.

"So what brings you to this part of the country?" William, where are you?

"We are looking for supporters," says the blond female, her tone serious.

"Supporters? For what exactly?" I know that curiosity is one of my greatest weakness, but I can´t help it.

Before Emmet and Rosalie get a chance to explain William is right next to me, he is standing straight and he is eyeing Emmet and Rosalie. I have to warn him that so far there is no threat.

"William, glad you could join us, this is Emmet and Rosalie, they were hunting nearby." I look up trying to get his attention but he is still eyeing them.

"We are not here to fight you," says Rosalie as if she could read his mind "actually we were hoping if you could at least hear us out."

This relaxes a little bit his pose. He pulls one of my arms and wraps his hand around my stub as if he was holding my hand and brings me closer to him. It feels VERY nice… he has never done this before.

"I am sorry, I just didn´t know what to expect." his voice is now friendly, but I can still hear an edge on it "How can we help you?" He pulls me to the couch that is next to the one that their sitting, one of his arms is around my body, embracing me.

So he is pretending we are a couple….mmhh … I like the idea.

"Well our family is going through a difficult situation and we were wandering if you could come with us, to witness one of our family members." ookay?. I can´t make anything from it.

"A witness of what exactly?" I ask and William puts a little force in his holding but I don´t care, I am still curious.

"We would rather you see it, before judging anything" answers Rosalie. "it is difficult to explain, "her voice is nervous.

"It shouldn´t be difficult to explain." says William. There is a smile on his face but his words are showing no emotion.

"We are open minded." I am more curious about their situation, especially now. William puts a little more force.

Rosalie and Emmet look at each other, their faces are dubious. I can tell they are having an internal discussion, Rosalie doesn´t want to let us know. She rather us seeing it but Emmet wants us to know.

"Well what exactly do you know about the possibility of a hybrid vampire?" He speaks up and Rosalie doesn´t looks happy about it.

"Hybrid?" I turn and look at William and I see my same confusion in his face.

"Yes, like half human, half vampire." Emmet says while looking at William and then at me.

"That it is impossible," adds William, he knows something I don´t know, I look back at him "there is no such thing!"

"Well, it was possible, that is why I wanted you to see her, it would have been a lot easier for you."Rosalie responds to William. She glances at Emmet and her eyes are furious.

"How was it possible?" I know I will not be getting answers from William, based on his face seems that he doesn´t know either or he is not going to tell me. I need to take advantage of Emmet and Rosalie being here.

"Well, one of our brother fell in love with a human. He married her and she got pregnant. She was able to carry the baby full term and gave birth, the process almost killed her but my brother transform her right after the birth, now the baby is …."

"Amazing." the look on Rosalie's face transforms immediately, Her face lights up and a smile -the first real smile since they approach us- is lit over her face. You can tell she loves the creature.

"Yes Rosie, Renesmee is amazing." He laughs a little when he looks at his wife face. "But she is constantly growing! She has a heartbeat, of course but she is as strong as one of us! She learns so fast! it is incredible." I can see that he is also amazed by this creature.

"We know it is a lot to ask, but we want you to witness so that you can see she is not an immortal child… In case someone thinks we have created one." Emmett's look changes from love to anger. I wouldn´t like to get on HIS bad side.

"So you are telling me that this…'hybrid' is similar to one of us?" I look at William who spoke, he is having a hard time processing the information as I am. "Are you sure is not an immortal child and your brother is not tricking you?"

"No, she is not an immortal child!." Rosalie is mad. "That is exactly the problem. Our sources tell us that THEY are coming; their mind is set up and well…-"her voice trails off.

I can see understanding in Williams face, but I honestly don´t understand much of what she just told us and I want to know.

"Who is THEY?" I look at William. His mouth keeps close and he looks at me. He is not happy.

"Have you ever heard of the Volturi, Maya?" the tone in Emmett's voice implies that it is basic thing that I should know.

"No."

"Newborn?" Emmet looks at William

"Hardly!" I answer back with a small chuckle.

"She has not been around a lot of… vampires. Not long enough to know about our politics." William says hoping this would explain some of my ignorance to the newcomers.

"The Volturi are the vampire police. They make sure the law is followed… like not creating immortal child. They think we broke it and therefore they want to punish us. But no law has been broken!" Thank God for Rosalie explaining! Otherwise this was going to eat me alive.

"Then just explain them. It should clear things up." seems like the logical solution to this situation.

Rosalie and Emmet look at me, their face full of surprise, and then look back at William, their eyes saying what their voice is not, Is she for real.

"Maya, you don´t negotiate with the Volturi." her face is kind "The idea of the witnesses is to try to stop them before they move on us and kill us. So they have to listen to our explanation. That is why we are asking for your help."

"We would be glad to help you, but we can´t." William says kindly.

"Why not?" Why is he taking the decision without consulting with me? I want to help them. I am now the one that is not happy at him.

"Maya stop." He looks at me and I glare back at him.

"At least we should go and meet… Renesmee, That is the least we could do." I say, letting him know I am not backing out.

"Could you give us a couple of minutes?" William looks back at them. "There is a couple of things we need to discuss." He pulls me up, grabs my stub and takes me into the house.

Once inside the house, he takes me up to the room that is the furthest from the porch, which is his. William closes the door behind him.

"Maya, this is not up for discussion. We. are. not. going." His voice is low but I can hear the anger in it.

"Why not? They didn´t do anything wrong." I don´t know why but I am also whispering.

"We don´t know that!"

"Exactly! we don´t know. It wouldn´t hurt us to go and look for ourselves. If we think they are lying we just walk away before the…. Volturi arrive." I am trying to convince him but from his face I can see that I am not getting anywhere.

"No Maya we can´t risk it!" my face is full of disbelief.

"Why not? We are not risking anything!" he stays quiet "Just give me an answer!"

"I can´t, okay, it is better if you don´t know." again with all the secrets.

"Not good enough William. If you want to stay, you can, I am going" I pull my arm away from his hand and start walking towards the door. He grabs me from my waist and puts me back where I was.

"We have a deal Maya, you don´t get to run away from me." his voice is getting higher

"William I am not running away from you! You are free to follow me anytime you want. You know where you can find me." I am getting mad. I know about our agreement and somehow I know I am not breaking it, he is trying to get me to stay in a technicality.

"Please, Maya, don´t do this! It is dangerous." He knows the deal doesn´t apply in this case, he is looking for a different approach.

"Just tell me why it is dangerous?"

He keeps quiet. I start walking away and again he grabs me from my waist and returns me to my previous spot. This time he grabs my arm, his hand is caressing whatever is left of my wrist. He has never done that before… it takes me by surprise, that electric pulse that I´ve only felt once when he was checking my arm so long ago comes alive once again and I find myself catching my breath.

I look up to his black eyes and see tenderness in them.

"Maya, THEY are dangerous!" he looks down toward my arm telling me with his eyes what he is not saying with words. "You have no idea."

Understanding starts to set in and I realize that somehow those Volturi are responsible of that missing part of me. A quick image show in my mind darkness, a foul smell, and pain. I shake my head and he closes his eyes and nods.

"I´m sorry Maya." I look up to his eyes. "We just can´t go." He releases my arm and leaves the room.

I slump down to the floor, not knowing how to process this new piece of information. I somehow always thought that I lost my hands while I was human, that the vampire that created me was ignorant or show poor judgment. So what exactly happened? I know William is not going to tell me. Somehow what he just did was beyond him.

I hear William apologizing to Emmet and Rosalie about not being able to join them, he adds a vague explanation of why and wish them the best of lucks and then there is silence.

I stay there a long time. William comes by a couple of times but I just ignore him.

I am thinking hard. I close my eyes and start going back through time, trying to remember my first memory but the only one I can recall is opening my eyes to that horrible small room and seeing Edna washing me.

I try pushing it further but is like there is nothing beyond that point, I feel so desperate, the answers are there, but I just can´t reach them.

I open my eyes and see William sat next to me. I lie back and part of my back rests in his chest, he tenses. I turn and look at his face, he looks down at me, and my eyes are pleading for him to tell me more information. He looks straight trough them and shakes his head.

His pose is still tense but I feel safe where I am. I don´t move. I like the warm of his body touching mine, comforting me, knowing that whatever words he is not expressing that just being there next to me is enough.

He hasn´t push me back, instead, he starts caressing my arms and puts one of his arms around my neck letting his head rest ontop of mine.

His body starts to relax and he trails his nose up and down my cheek. I close my eyes and let his sweet scent evolve me, everywhere his nose touches my face warms up and there is a feeling I have never experience before. He moves his nose to my hair and I can feel him sniffing it and his breathing accelerating.

I don´t want him to stop. I want to stay like this forever but as if he could read my thoughts he stops and he gently removes his arm from around me and lifts his face letting me know the moment had passed. I sit up straight and sigh.

I get up and walk towards the door, not daring to look at him. He is probably mad and I should not have let myself go like that.

I feel a pull in my arm and he turns me around. His body is close to mine so I start walking backwards and hit the door that is behind me, his body is against mine and his hands are at each side of my face. His breathing is coming fast as mine and his and my scent fill up the small space that is between us. I see his face in front of me, he comes closer, I can feel his lips on my cheek going up and down on my jaw gently and slowly.

He looks up and there is desire and longing. He steps closer, I close my eyes and feel his nose touching mine but I don´t dare move. I don´t want to break the spell so I wait for him to kiss me… nothing. I open my eyes and he is already pulling his face away from mine. What is wrong? His eyes are looking straight through mine.

"Maya," He closes his eyes and lets his hands fall from my face. He steps to the side and one of his hand grabs my arm and gently pulls me forward, his body no longer touching mine. "You should go and hunt." He opens the door. I don´t want to leave, I want to stay here with him close to me. Instead he turns on his heels and walks to the other side of the room " Please leave." His voice is full of sadness.

I start to walk towards him but I stop when he does not turn around. William keeps looking out the window ignoring me, all I want to do is to go over there and touch him - hug him and continue where we just left off- but I can´t. He was the one to pull back. I was being rejected and it hurts.

I turn and walk outside the room hoping with each step that he comes and stops me… But he doesn't.

"I´m sorry William." I say it low but I know that he heard me. I close the door and start running toward the mountains.

I sit at the end of a cliff, letting my feet dangle in the space that is below. This has been the most difficult hunt in my life as my mind wasn´t on it. I keep constantly thinking in that brief time William was close to me, replaying it and trying to understand my feelings and my actions. Why was I waiting for him to kiss me? Then, Why did I leave? I should have stay there and not let him hideaway but now is too late… the moment had passed.

It has been two days since I left the house, but he knows that I am close by, my scent is near enough for him to know.

The sun is coming up and I have a front seat to see the marvelous spectacle. The change in the color of the sky from black to purple and finally orange, such a beautiful sight. I will go back today and hopefully William won´t be mad at me anymore.

I wait there and start hearing nature wake up while the sun makes its way up to the sky. The sun brings its ray to light up the sky and warm the cool air and that is my sign to go back home.

I stand up and let the wind blow in my face feeling the freshness that comes with it. I walk calmly into the woods. Going down the mountain I am near the house and I can smell William scent in the air, he already hunted.

I can´t bring myself to go into the house and instead I decide to go to the swing in the porch and sit there, letting the swing move me and hearing its rusty nails screeching because of my weight.

William comes down the stairs and outside the door, he goes and sits in the couch that is the furthers away from me. I don´t dare to look at him so I keep looking in front hoping there is something interesting to look at.

"Maya?" his voice is his usual, not a trace of him being mad at me, I decided to look back at him.

"We need to leave this house." his voice is all business now.

"Wasn´t the contract for another couple of weeks more?" I have been keeping tabs this time. I didn´t like enjoying one place just to find out that the time was up.

"The agency called, they found a place up north." That gets my attention. "it is near the outside of New York and…"

"No William." I shake my head. "That is going to be hard for you, too many people around."

"Maya, really?" he is smiling. "How can you resist New York at Christmas time?"

"William, no." My voice faltering, he knows I always wanted to go there especially at Christmas time. I haven´t been shy about that wish but he has been doing so great with the promise… Why tempt him and give me a reason to leave him? "It is in the city so hunting will be hard."

"Not necessarily, the apartment is in the outside of the city. We could make a day or night trip and go hunting to a nearby forest. There is one near New Jersey, Norvin Green State Forest, I think. It is not as easy as this location but we can make it work." He knew he was winning the argument. "Besides I need to get some practice being in a location with more people than just a couple of neighbors."

"So you already did your homework?" I say feeling some excitement to go there for the winter but still not convinced.

"Well I got bored without you." he is still smiling. "Whatever took you so long?."

He is playing the nothing happen inside the house card, fine, Let us go with it then.

"I just thought it might be nice to spend a little more time with nature." I say imitating his easy going tone "So I´ll start packing."

"No need, I got everything in the car." I look at him surprise. "Plus your packing technique usually means me having to redo it."

"Well we need to clean the house." I start getting up from the swing.

"All taken care of." His voice is fill of pride. I look at him with suspicion.

He wasn´t usually this proactive, he was right about the packing I even think that he enjoys it but he is not a big fan of the cleaning.

"I told you I got bored without you."

"Okay, so where is the car?" I look at the driveway and see a small minivan, it doesn´t make sense, where is our hatchback BMW?

"About that…" I look back at him and I know I am not liking that tone. "I did a small trade with our neighbors"

I turn and look at the neighbor's driveway and sure enough there is our lovely hatchback park. My eyes widen I feel some anger growing in my stomach. I turn and look back at William, a murdering look in my face.

"I thought being in New York we really wouldn´t need a car so much, so…. They were really happy about the trade, an early Christmas gift!" He ignores my look and start going down the steps "Come on, Christmas time…. in New York!"

I understand what William is doing he is making sure that we don´t continue what we started in THAT room. He doesn´t want me to go inside again.

I start following William down the steps and take one last look at the house. In mind all the memories of our time here start to flow and always stop in that instant with me and William so close by, my stomach makes a small flip. At the beginning, it was not even close to my favorite houses, and now it was my favorite.

I start walking towards the car. William has already opened my car door and is already sitting on the driver's seat. I make a face and sigh, it is going to be a slow ride to New York in that Minivan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writers Notes:
> 
> Next Update August 16th or 17th
> 
> Reviews are highly appreciated :)


	7. Who let the Wolf out? Part 1

Chapter 7. - Who let the Wolf out?.- Part 1

Maya´s Point of View…...January 2006

"You know I am still mad at you William." I wanted to skate in Rockefellers skate ring but William said no, even when I promise I would control my impulses, but as always… Too dangerous.

"What, so now you are holding a grudge?" He is smiling at me.

"Of course, why wouldn´t I? Another one of my dreams that I am not able to fulfill." I am playing the drama queen card, I even put my wrist in my forehead.

"I am not taking you to any more plays at Broadway, it's kind of rubbing in on you," he laughed at my terrible acting skills.

"I haven´t ticked acting off the list you know!" my face remained dead serious so that he believes me.

"Really...well good luck with that one." He laughing aloud. "So, just tell me, how many of your 'dreams'" He actually uses his fingers to make quote marks and to anger. "Have you not been able to fulfill?"

"You have no idea." I state. I try to use an indifferent tone but I am about to burst out laughing.

"So going to the Empire State Building and staying there all night long was not one of your dreams?" I actually really enjoyed that one a lot.

We went when it was closed, using not a very traditional method to reach the top… which was William hiking the building with me on his back

"Or going to the MET and trying to figure out how old I am." for the record I still haven´t figured out that one yet.

"Or when we went to the Natural Museum and you started asking me if I recognize any of the dinosaurs from the old days." He was not happy about that. "Or when I took you to see the Ball drop in New Years?"

"Okay, I might have fulfilled a couple of them, but a girl can hope, can´t she?" He knows I am having the time of my life and, to be honest, he is actually being really nice about it.

"Sure," He is still smiling, knowing that I will continue with skating in the Rockefeller center idea as soon as we are back in Manhattan.

"So what is in the bag?" he has been carrying a bag since we left in the apartment and has been so mysterious about it that it is actually making me crazy.

"As I already told you, is none of your business." he stops smiling and has his all business attitude now. If I only had hands! I would have already rip it off and run off with it, although I would probably not been able to go far away with it.

"Oh come on! Just a clue, pleeaassee!" My voice is pleading and I am making sure to put on my worse puppy eyes that I can.

"Nope, and we are here anyways." We arrive to our usual hunting area, we have been coming here in the last months almost two times a week. We didn´t want to risk having an incident by being surrounded by so many people so we were actually overdoing it, but honestly it has been worth it.

"So are you coming with me today?" I am not planning to leave that bag out of my sight if possible.

"No. I think it would be better if you go alone." His voice is showing no emotion.

"Want any help with the bag?"

"And how would you hunt if you have the bag?" He is almost smiling.

"I´ll manage" I put a big smile in my face to make sure he is buying my story.

"I don´t think so, so run along." I am surprised that he is actually trying to get rid of me, he is not like this. I am usually the one that tries to get some space, I feel shocked. "How do you usually put it? I need some ME time"

Before I can answer anything he starts running, leaving me on the spot. If he thinks I cannot hold a grudge he is going to be surprise.

I start to hunt and follow his usual mantra. I already know most of the park environment. I close my eyes and start scanning the air, trying to find an animal. I find a smell that is appealing, a deer is nearby and close to an area that I know it would be hard for it to escape. I track it down quickly, it makes a quick and easy hunt.

I sniff the air to find Williams scent and I detect something else… a scent from our kind that is not William. Should I call him or should I go alone? He did mention he needed some 'ME' time…and I am still mad at him so what the hell?

I start following the scent and it is getting stronger but together with it I notice that something is wrong. Am I feeling sick? How is this possible? This is not normal, I am a vampire and we don´t get to feel sick. This was a bad idea, I better go and find William and tell him.

I turn around and start running the opposite way the more distant I put to the scent of the other vampire the better I start to feel. I finally catch William scent and I find him near the lake, his face is full of excitement.

"William, there…."

"I have a surprise, Maya." He goes behind me and puts a blind fond on my eyes.

"Wait! There is something important I need to tell you!" I am trying to get his attention but he is pushing me towards somewhere.

"Come on Maya, play along."

"No, William." I try to stop and take off the blind fold "There is something in the woods." I put more force in my voice so that he knows I am serious.

He stop and I can feel the blind fold coming off my eyes. His own eyes are questioning.

"There is another vampire near Buck Mountain! At least I think it is a vampire…" I trailed off.

"What do you mean, you think it's a vampire?" He states seriously.

"Well it smells like a vampire, but when I got near …I felt sick?" I questioned. "I couldn't find him and…."

"You try to track it alone? Are you crazy?" Opps. I might have wanted to skip that part. "Let's leave"

"You need to hunt!" I smelt that he hadn´t hunt anything yet.

"Doesn´t matter. We'll go to some other place." He moves and starts walking away, unblocking my view. Before my eyes in the frozen lake there is a clear path from snow… a skating ring and next to my feet a couple of skates. My heart sinks, this was the reason William was so cryptic… he was trying to surprise me.

We start walking back the way we came through, the wind picking up hitting us right in the face. This time I catch two different scents, the first one from the vampire I smelt in the woods, the other I do not recognize but it send shivers down my spine.

I look up at William, his face not revealing anything but he starts pushing me back. His stance is tense and he looks all around trying to identify where the smell came from. His head turns from side to side and finally stops to our right.

"Maya," his voice is just a whisper, I can hardly make the words "stay here."

Before I can answer, he already disappeared. I am alone in the woods trying to hear where William went but nothing. I do not want to move fearing I would alert whatever other thing is out there, I only dare move my head and look around analyzing my surroundings. I am in an area with many trees, but since it is winter they don´t have any leaves to hide me. I feel like a sitting duck. Not knowing exactly what to expect. Maybe some screams either from William or another vampire, hearing them fight or at least discuss. But nothing came….nothing but a growl that is coming closer and closer…worse part is from an animal that I cannot identify but is making every single hair in my body go up.

I turn and in front of me, I see it. His body is all covered in hair, it is not quite in crouch, not quite standing up, but it has wolf features and man features… something in between and he is looking straight at me.

I stay put hoping that it moves on. He growls at me and jumps towards where I am… SHIT!

I start to run as fast as I can, trying to escape from it, but is gaining on me. I jump to one tree and move through its branches, running keeping my equilibrium, and jumping from one to another making my way up, hoping that THAT thing is not able to reach me. It jumps to a nearby tree and starts heading towards me in long strides. This was not a good idea. He Is moving like an ape hanging from some of the branches, it actually goes above me and cuts me off. I jump back to the ground, knowing that my odds against it are not in my favor. It is stronger and faster than me.

Think Maya, think! I am now the prey. He is the hunter and guess what? looks like I am the weakest of the group.

I keep running. The animal is already down in the floor, coming near me. I am about to reach the lake but it is using the surroundings to trap me. I remember the clear patch in the lake that William cleaned. The soles of my shoes have rubber and I presume I will not slide so easily. Rubber should give me a better grip in the ice compared to the monster, I reach the bank of the lake, not daring to look back.

"DUCK!" I hear somebody shout. I am not questioning the order. I go to the ground and I can feel the thing going above me.

It lands on a crouch not far from where I am. He turns around before I am even standing. I don´t stand a chance, I look around and see one of the skates. Quickly, I put my arm inside the boot and raise it, just in the nick of time slicing a piece of the creature's finger. This makes him back away while its howls shake the forest in pain.

I turn around and take advantage of its distraction and start running with the skate in my arm. I am headed towards the lake.

The creatures follow me and starts to slide.

Ha, Ha seems that I was right about the grip in the ice.

But I can´t stop. I need to continue. Unfortunately, a couple of feet into the lake the ice in my feet is thinning. This is not good, I just know the ice is not going to hold with my weight. The creature, which had finally gotten to it's feet, was coming closer.

He knows I am trapped. I raise my arm with the skate and hit the ice with all my force, breaking it. I start jumping from piece to piece trying to keep my equilibrium and not falling into the lake. It is a good thing that I am small. I manage to jump to smaller pieces. The creature starts mimicking my move and jumps to one of the pieces hitting it wrong and falling down into the water. I keep moving in case it is a good swimmer.

I finally make it to a part where the ice is not broken.

"Come here!" I hear the voice at my right and I run that way but the sickness in my stomach gets worse. I start to slow down.

"Don't stop, run!" I keep up, feeling the sickest that I can ever remember but a figure starts coming into focus. I presume it is a vampire. I try to catch up to him and go behind his back, the sense of sickness reducing significantly. I glimpse at the creature and see that it manages to swim to the part where the ice didn´t break but it stops on his tracks… it doesn´t come near us. The vampire starts pulling me backwards, getting away from the frozen lake and entering once again the forest and stopping.

The creature howls and is no longer pursuing us. I stay next to the vampire, not losing sight of the creature until it disappears from my view.

I finally dare to look at the vampire that just save my life. He is tall, probably as tall as William is. His hair is blond, but he looks young, probably early twenties when he was turned, and his eyes are red.

"Are you okay?" He looks at me.

"Thanks to you!" I am not quite feeling safe yet but I was lucky to get away from it thanks to him. Suddenly, I realize William is nowhere to be seen. "Have you seen William?"

"Who?" He looks at me questioning.

"There was another vampire with me." I can see understanding in his eyes. "We need to help him!" I start to freak out and I do not want to think that William might die.

He looks up at the sky.

"It's almost sunrise," He looks back at me "is he as slow as you are?"

"No. Come on we need to help him." I can´t understand… why is he not moving?

"He will be all right, look" he points up to sky and sure enough I can see the sun coming up.

"What? The sun's up? How is that going to help him?" My tone is not coming out very nicely.

"Well, that means Ivan is no longer in his wolf form, We´ll be safe." My mouth just falls open at that moment. What did he just said?

He starts walking and I am stuck in place. "Huh, hello? Are you coming?" He stops and looks back at me.

"Oh sorry," I try to step out of the shock of what I just heard and catch up to him. "Did you say 'wolf form?' as in werewolf? Isn´t that a myth?"

"Aren´t we also?" he says matter of factly.

"Touché" My head is not able to wrap the idea.

We walk to the original place where the skates were and the vampire starts looking for something on the floor. I realize I still have the skate on my arm and throw it on the floor where the other one is, there is blood in the blade and I feel disgusted by the smell.

"What are you looking for?" I see him kicking some snow out of the way.

"Well, he is not going to be happy about losing his thumb." His face lights up in a gleeful way and I follow his gaze to see that he is looking at a human thumb. He picks it up.

He sniff the air and starts walking towards north, I follow him as I don´t want to risk finding the creature all by myself. I still can´t believe he is a werewolf and honestly, I won´t risk it alone without William.

"My name is Maya." I say trying to make some conversation.

"Fred." he says while still analyzing the thumb that he picked up.

"Thanks, Fred, for helping me back there." I look up at him and then at the thumb that he is holding, wondering what is so interesting.

"Oh, don´t mention it." He looks back at me and notice that I am looking at the thumb. "See this is the thumb that you took off the werewolf. Nice job, by the way."

"Shouldn´t it be furrier?" I don´t remember it being human.

"Told ya, Ivan is no longer a werewolf, nor his thumb " I look at him, dubious of his answer. "See, look over there" He points and I follow his finger with my gaze and some feet away in the clear of the forest there is a human male…. naked.

There were so many thoughts going through my mind. I felt fearful of coming close to whatever creature that was and astonished to actually see that he was somehow human. But embarrassment quickly set in after seeing him naked. I don´t know what was my actual face but I just turn around and Fred starts laughing.

"Shouldn´t we be safer if we keep some distant from that thing?" I say trying not to look at the creature. I would turn if I knew I could trust it.

"You are safe with me. " He says laughing a little bit." Hey Ivan! Found your thumb."

What the hell? 

"Why are you calling it? Didn´t you see back there? He was actually trying to kill me!" I start going behind Fred, using him as a shield in case the creature in question decides to attack us.

"Oh, yes, forgot to tell you, when he is in his werewolf phase he is not quite himself, he is a little bit…. wild." he says, all to happy to lecture me.

"A little bit of an understatement!" I try to control my voice but clearly not doing a good enough job.

The creature stands up. He is as tall as William and has the same muscular built. I hear his heartbeat which is a lot faster than any human's, his skin is not white as us, it is tan but he is a lot harrier and nothing like the creature that I had to face.

His hair is shoulder length and is completely wet, probably my fault making him take a small swim in the lake, he looks towards us and he has a handsome face that strangely reminds me of William. His eyes are different and they are brown but with a tinge of red. He starts walking towards us and I feel myself tense, a gust of wind comes towards us and his scent puts that cold feeling in my back again and I can't help but growl.

"Keep calm Maya, he can sense your fear." Fred says low, but I am not afraid, I am angry.

I am about to give Fred a little piece of my mind in a rather not so polite way. But the creature is in front of Fred. S-H-I-T

"So remind me what happened back there?" his voice is deep and has an English accent. It doesn´t calm me it actually makes me angrier. "I have only small images of what occurred."

"Well you actually ate a moose, two squirrels and one rabbit." Was Fred actually monitoring this so call 'Ivan?'

"I remember about that. I don´t quite recall the moose, squirrels or the rabbit severing my thumb." His voice was questioning. He has not seen me yet.

"Well… about that. You run into a little bit of trouble at the end." Says Fred his voice so calm I can barely keep control to not start running.

How is he doing it?

"How bad was it?" There is no remorse in his voice.

"Actually not that bad seeing as she managed to get away"

"Impossible! No human can get away once I start to hunt it." There is a lot of disbelief in his voice.

"I never said it was a human, now did I?"I don´t dare to look up or around Fred as I could hear a growl coming from Ivan.

"I knew it, where'd she go?" Ivan was mad.

"Not very far. Actually, she is here with us." Fred steps aside. Ivan and I stare at each before my instincts kick in and I jump backwards and land on a crouch. I keep looking at him, measuring and coming to the sad conclusion that I am dead. Ivan also gets on a crouch and starts growling but he then takes a good look at me and starts laughing aloud, what the …?

"Really?" he looks at Fred questioning eyes. "You are telling me that this little thing was what actually cut my finger?" He looks back at me and sized me up and down. "You smell… 'different.' What are you?"

I look at Ivan and then at Fred. What is going on here? Are they kidding me?

"She is a vampire." answers Fred.

"From what I remember? No, she is not!" he looks back at me and comes closer to me. I try to look away, after all, he is still naked but my instincts don´t let me. He is the enemy, never take your eyes away from it. "Her smell is similar to you but not quite, she is still so small." He looks back at Fred "She is not fast or strong and her eyes are different from yours." He turns back at me "So what are you?""

"I am a Vampire." I put much courage into my voice.

"Told you!" I hear Fred tell Ivan but I don't dare look at him. He looks down to where my hands are supposed to be

"Please tell me that I at least manage to do THAT!" He points at my arms. I know the question is not for me.

"Nope, she was like that when you found her." I hear a tinge of amusement in Fred's voice.

"So what you are telling me is that this handless…. What elf, fairy? Managed to cut my thumb and, if my memory serves me right, got me in the lake for a swim?"

"Yes she did," says Fred, laughing this time.

I look at Fred and then at Ivan. I can see anger in his eyes as he sizes me up again and laughs.

"I am getting rusty." he turns and looks at Fred. "Now that is an interesting story I would like to hear."

"Well she did have a little bit of help from a skate and from me," says Fred "But, all in all, she did outsmart you."

"Cheater!" He extends his hand and Fred puts his thumb on his hand. Ivan looks at it. "Hmm, A clean cut. Got the backpack?"

"Yes, it's right over by those trees." Ivan walks away.

"What is going on?" I look at Fred once. Ivan is far enough away so we can talk.

"I look out for him when he is in his hard part of the cycle." I can´t not believing a word of what he is saying."I am just curious about his specie." He explains. "I haven´t gotten much answers from our kind so when I met him…" He trails off. "He was also curious and now we are friends." He shrugs his shoulders.

"What do you mean you take care of him? Shouldn´t you take care when near him?" I point at Ivan.

Good thing he is not close.

"Well, he can´t get near me and that is what made him curious." He looks back at me. I can remember the nausea I felt when I came close to him.

"The nausea? That was you?" I was trying to process the information.

He shrugs his shoulder.

"How?" I look inquisitively at him.

"Is something I been able to do since I was transformed." There is no emotion in his voice with an 'I don´t care attitude.'

"Please teach me!" There is a small ray of hope and if I can do this, somehow I can protect myself.

"I can´t," my hopes fall to the floor "It's just something that I can do."

"Too bad, somehow it would have come in handy." I look down at my arms.

"Talking about handy, what happen to you?" I look at him and he glances down at my lack of hands.

"Can´t remember. Ever since I woke up I haven´t had any hands." I knew at some point somebody was bound to ask considering that I owe my life to him. Weirdly, I don´t feel like he was prying.

"That sucks." I know that Fred means it.

"Tell me about it." I just smile at him "Now that Ivan has his thumb can we go and find William? He is probably going crazy by now."

"He is near, but I am keeping him away. I don´t think Ivan is going to be so understanding about him as he was about you."Whatever does he mean? "On a scale of threatening things he probably doesn´t consider you dangerous, that is why he didn´t attack you when he saw you, but if he sees your friend that is a different story."

"Oh!" Well, that could certainly be a problem, "Can I go now and find him then?" …and I can get as far away from Ivan that I can.

"No, you still have a story to tell me." I jump when I hear the Ivan´s voice. I didn´t expect him to be next to me. He already has his clothes on and I see a band-aid on his finger. I really don´t like Ivan at all.

"Fred can tell you." my voice dead serious.

"Nah, he doesn´t know the best part." Why is he is smiling?

"Which is…?" I am mad and certainly not comfortable around this guy.

"Why are you so weak, slow and different from others?" he is almost laughing.

"You know what." I smile back at him "DROP DEAD!" I turn around and start running the other way.

"Oh, no, not so fast," he is already in front of me. "Or should I say not so slow?"

"BITE ME." I am beyond furious.

"I already tried that, wish to try again tonight?" His voice is no longer full of amusement and now he is very, very mad "I am sure this time YOU won´t be so lucky."

"Is that a threat?" I look straight into his eyes at that moment I am not afraid to stare into his eyes with hate.

"Not a threat darling. A serious warning." He stares into my eyes. "Or do you care we try it now?"

"BRING- IT-ON" the phrase actually comes out before I actually think of the consequences. Seems that my judgment is highly questionable around the werewolf.

The feeling of nausea hits me hard and I can no longer look into Ivan eyes. I feel like I need to get away but I am very weak. I look at Ivan and I can tell he is feeling the same. I start to walk backwards and hit my head with a tree as Ivan trips on a rock and falls.

"Fred, tone it down." I hear Ivan say "I´ll play nice."

The nausea start to come down. I look at Ivan he is no longer angry… nor am I.

"I´ll play nice too," the nausea feeling disappearing.

"Good guys, this is going to make things easier." Fred appears out of nowhere.

"Easier?" I look at Fred.

"Well yes, I am also curious," he sits down in the floor in the area between Ivan and me.

"Have you heard curiosity killed the cat?" I snap at him.

"Then it is a good thing we are not a cats." he smiles at me. "Now, tell us,"

"Argh fine" I am defeated, I won´t be able to get away of Fred with his power or Ivan with his speed. "My eyes are gold because my diet is different from our kind." I look at Fred "I only feed on animals blood."

Fred looks at me and nods his head.

"I once heard about you guys, but a different story," I can see that Fred is remembering something but before he can say anything else, Ivan interrupts.

"So that is why you are weak and slow?" the amusement in his voice brings the previous anger back.

"No," I glare at him, I know this is not the reason because William is on my same diet and well… he is not presenting this side effect "I have always been weak and slow, let's say I am the worse vampire in history! I don´t drink human blood and I am weak and slow. Happy?"

"And that is why you don´t have any hands, did somebody attack you?" the way and tone that Ivan is using to ask the question feels like he is prying so I am getting madder.

"Since I woke up I never had any hands." I say trying to control my anger "I don´t know what happened and I cannot remember."

"Liar." his tone just manages to keep provoking me.

"Then believe whatever you want" I smile to him "but remember this! The worse vampire in history manage to kick your ass."

"Maya," there is a warning tone in Fred's voice

"Okay, Fred," I say while trying to calm down.

"So what Fred you sold out on me?" Ivan looks at Fred.

"Nah Ivan, just thought that it was not a very fair fight." I look back at Fred, seems that he was selling me out "she did put out quite a fight though, the thing with the skate breaking the ice in the lake and getting you in? That was all her. She might be handicap but she is smart."

This makes me feel happy and somehow I don´t feel so useless, I know I wouldn´t have survived without Fred but at least I put up a fight. I turn and look at Ivan, feeling so proud.

"Wipe that smile off your face, if you are as smart as Fred says you should know better than provoking a werewolf." he stands up, but even his words aren´t bringing my good mood down.

"Fine." Me and Fred rise to our feet.

"Let's go." he starts walking to where the backpack is.

"I can´t Fred" I look at him pleading with me eyes. I don´t want to tell Ivan about William. If Fred thinks that William might be a problem, I want to avoid any kind of confrontation.

"Ivan, how would you feel about another vampire joining the group?" I look back at him trying to silently tell him if I heard right.

"If it is another one like her? Heck bring five!" he says without even looking at us.

"Well… that is the thing Ivan, it seems that he is more like you in speed and strength than her." What is wrong with Fred? Which side is he on?

This actually gets Ivan's attention. H stops walking and I cannot quite tell what was going on in his mind.

"How bad?" he looks straight to Fred's eye.

"It is bad." So he is not even going to lie a little. "She won´t come if he is left behind."

"Well then, drop her." finally something I can agree with Ivan, drop me. I don´t care as long as I don´t have to be with Ivan. 

"That is the problem, I kind of like her." he looks back at me "She reminds me of someone."

Ivan stays quiet for a little while, looking at Fred and then at me.

"I am not sure about that Fred, I am trying to control myself with her," He gestured at me. "I don´t know about the other one."

"I´ll manage that." Says Fred and starts walking off. "Come on Maya, let's go and get your friend; Ivan you stay here we need to mentally prepare him for you."

"Fine." answers Ivan, his voice full of annoyance "I´ll be by the tree with the backpack."

I catch up to Fred.

"I don´t know if William is going to be okay with Ivan once he knows that he attacked me, he …worries about me." Fred looks at me. " a lot!" I put emphasis on this last part.

"If I can´t control William you are free to go Maya, but I would like to know more about vampires. I haven´t been around a lot so naturally I am curious." So it looks like there is more than just remembering him about someone.

"Okay, but let me handle it." I protested. "He is going to be worried sick! Let´s make sure he first sees me otherwise he will attack you."

"You know him better so I´ll follow your lead." he stops "he is right behind those trees. I´ll tone down the nausea but you will still feel a little bit, this is so he won´t be able to see me."

"Okay, thanks." I walk towards the direction that he told me and sure enough, there is William looking around. His face full of worry and he keeps sniffing the air and looking around on the floor. He turns in the direction that I am but he can´t see me or somehow he can focus on the area, he turns and looks at the lake. I turn and realize this was the part of the lake that I met Fred.

"William?" I say feeling a little bit sick.

He is able to hear me and he turns towards where I am standing, suddenly he is able to focus on me. His face fills with relief and lights up and starts running towards me but when he is almost reaching me he slows down, I notice his face changing. He sniffs the air and I can swear he pales a little.

"I am fine, there is another one of us helping me." I say trying to calm him.

"What is going on Maya?" he is getting angry, his lip is curling up. I don´t think this is going to be easy at all! The nausea increases but William is not showing any signs of being affected by it.

"I don´t know how to explain it so that you will believe me." I try to smile hoping this would calm him down but is not helping. It is hard to keep the smile considering the nausea is getting stronger.

"Where is it?" his voice is a growl,

"The vampire?" I hold on to a tree to support myself. Fred is not toning it down. He is actually increasing it.

"No," he shakes his head, he is already standing in front of me "Where is the werewolf?"

I can´t hold any longer. I am in the floor, feeling weak.

"Well William, nice to see you could join us " I see Ivan smiling. He is standing behind William but he moves so quickly. William puts himself in front of me to protect me.

"You are lucky that Maya is okay, Ivan, otherwise it would have been kill now ask questions later." his tone is not very friendly.

"You are lucky I am in this form, otherwise it would have been an interesting challenge." Ivan's tone is not friendly either but he still has the smile in his face. I just want to go over there and rip it off… if I could.

"I was looking for you back there."

"Seems I found a better prey to chase," he points at me "She has a much provoking scent than yours."

William dares to turn and look at me. He does a quick up and down assessing if I am still somewhat complete.

"Oh don´t worry, she put up a good chase." this actually makes the smile in Ivan´s face temporarily disappear. "Too bad she had a little help." He turns and looks at Fred who is now standing behind me. The feeling of sickness completely disappearing "Besides, you know how things are when I change, I can´t quite control myself."

"What did you do to her?" William is not happy about this but his tone is more in control.

"ME?" His face is dead serious. "You should ask that to your little elf over there! She can actually do some damage if she puts her mind into it" he lifts his hand and points to his thumb and starts laughing.

William turns and there is surprise in his face. I can´t quite tell if he is surprise mad or if he is actually happy but he looks quickly back at Ivan and starts laughing.

Wouldn´t this be motivation enough to start tearing apart the werewolf? I mean god forbids if I disappear from his sight for a couple of hours! But Oh no! When a werewolf actually tries to kills me? He is all chums with him.

I decide to not look at either of the vampires or the werewolf. I stand up and start walking towards home, if they want to have a little reunion fine by me, I don´t want to be their third wheel. William grabs my arm and pulls me so I face them.

"What is wrong Maya?" he is still smiling.

"Why are you nice to THAT thing?" I am actually screaming, "Do you know that IT actually try to kill me? And IT was pretty close to achieving it?" I look at Ivan and he is still smiling but that fact only gets me madder." If you don´t kill him, believe me I WILL."

Ivan actually starts laughing aloud. I start running towards him ready to attack him, but I feel William grabbing me by the waist and pulling me close to his body.

"Let me go William!" I say screaming at him. I don't look at him as I could lose sight of Ivan.

"Maya, calm down." Williams tone is gentle but I am so mad. I still fight to get out of his grasp.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn´t kill him?" I start kicking at his legs without achieving anything.

"Well I can give you more than one!" he is almost laughing. "He is stronger and faster than you even in his human form," I look up at him in disbelief. " Besides I would be pretty upset if you killed my brother."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:
> 
> Thank you very much to my lovely Beta LauraLighnting for helping me review this chapter and the great recommendations ;)
> 
> Next Chapter Who left the Wolf out?-Part 2 will be posted next week.
> 
> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended


	8. Chapter 8.- Who let the wolf out? (part 2)

Chapter 8.- Who let the Wolf Out? part 2

IMPORTANT NOTE: Before Reading this chapter I recommend to read the previous one wich is part 1.

Maya´s point of view...January 2006

That actually made my train of thoughts come to a complete stop. I look up at him to see if he was actually kidding me but his face is serious. I look at Ivan and start looking for similarities. I notice their eyes have the same shape also the color of their hair, the height, the built and I even thought that he looked like William. I don´t believe it but I stop fighting William.

"Are you freaking kidding me?"

"No, it has been at least a century since I last saw him." He is not smiling anymore. "I picked up his scent in the woods when we were leaving and seeing it was a full moon I knew the dangers. I went to look for him hoping that he would chase me. I didn´t expect him to go after you, but when I realized that he didn´t I went back. I prayed he found something else but all I found was a trace of him and you, a broken lake and nowhere either one of you." He sighed. "I assumed the worst." he looks at Fred "Thank you for saving her."

"No problem, it was not a fair fight." he looks at Ivan.

Fred stands up, his face is not revealing much but his eyes were actually intrigued with the information.

"We should probably go…" I hear Ivan saying and he starts walking towards us. Hearing his voice actually gets me all boiled up again, William sees that I start to tense up and puts a stronger grip on my arm.

"It looks like I will need to protect Ivan from you." Fred tells me when he passes us. That makes Ivan laugh. I see a rock at my feet and kick it with all my force, the rock hits him in the shoulder and he stops to look up into my eyes. His face is furious and his stare is deadly. He looks up at William and that stops him in his tracks.

"Try controlling your little elf before I do that myself." his voice is furious.

"Maya, behave," he whispers in my ear and starts walking, still holding me in his nice little cage.

"Why are you taking his side?" I try to stop so that he can confront me, but that only gets William picking me up and putting me in his shoulders like a bag of potatoes. "Is this a family thing?" I try kicking my legs but I don´t manage to raise them one inch.

"I told you, he is stronger and faster than you and he could actually do some damage." I stop trying to kick him, conserving my energy.

"Wouldn´t you defend me?"

"Please don´t put me in that position Maya." his voice is serious.

"Of course, family always comes first," I say mad.

He keeps quiet, so I know his answer.

They keep walking and I am just hanging there, looking at the trail that they just walked.

"Can you put me down?" I say after a little while.

"Not until you cool down."

"With him here, is going to be hard." I say trying to look at William, but no such luck.

Ivan starts laughing. I start fighting William again and trying to get out of his grip.

"Argh, why does he manage to bring the worse in me?" I whisper so that Ivan can´t hear me.

"It is a specie thing. We are natural enemies so I am blaming your bad temper on that."

"Are you sure is not a family thing? Cause right now I feel like I could also do some damage to you too." My voice is far from gentle.

I can feel him chuckle under me. I hit him in the shoulder but I can´t find myself to put all my force in the blow, somehow I don´t want to hurt him. He didn´t even flinch a little.

We walk like this for one hour. I am feeling a little bit more control as at first I wasn´t expecting William to actually carry me for so long, it seems that he is going to be good with his promise.

"Where are we going?" I start to get curious.

"We need to block a couple of memories from our mind." I look at William but I can only see the back of his head.

"I already had some of that. I think I´ll skip the memory erasing"

"I said block, not erase." his voice is calm.

"So my greatest achievement so far, is slicing his finger off and it is going to be blocked?" I am actually highly disappointed at this.

This actually makes him laugh and Ivan growl.

"Well we will be able to remember part of it at some point but if somebody tries to read our mind they won´t be able to do it considering that it's against the rule to have any contact or deal with the group."

"Who is able to read minds?" like that is even possible.

I can feel William tense up beneath me, somehow this was not information he was planning to share with me anytime soon and it slip.

"Well Aro, of course." I can almost thank Ivan for the answer but the name somehow sounds familiar.

"Who is Aro?" I can hear Fred it seems like I am not the only one that doesn´t know who this Aro is.

"Not now, guys." William voice is full of authority and has a certain edge to it.

"He is a member of those filthy Vol…. OUCH" we suddenly stop and I hear a growl coming from Ivan.

"I told you to control your little elf!"He sounds mad. GOOD!

"This time it was not her." I hear Fred telling Ivan."It was actually William"

I don´t know what is going over so I try to turn. I only have a quick glimpse of Ivan and I see some understanding in his eyes but he turns and continues walking.

"So Ivan, you were saying?" I try to pick up where we left off, but he does not answer back." Fine guys, keep your little secrets to yourself, I don´t care." there goes my opportunity to be able to walk.

"We better hurry up, I don´t want to come to close to nighttime." I hear William saying to the rest of the group.

"We are not that far away now, Madame will be happy to see you." Ivan´s voice sounds excited "We could run, but with your little elf I think we are doing a better time if she was actually running"

"Moron!" I yell from my current position" Do you want to lose another thumb?"

I can feel William sighing and hear Fred laughing.

"You had to provoke her Ivan! She was finally calming down!"

"Now, it wouldn´t be any fun if I don´t pick on her once in a while!" he is laughing.

"Please William, just another rock." he is silent "for me?"

He just shakes his head.

"You two are just unbelievable." I can hear Fred laughing.

"He started it!" I point my arm at Ivan but is useless, nobody is looking.

Ivan just laughs.

"Wait till I am on the floor and you will be sorry!" I say screaming.

"Ivan, if I was you I wouldn´t get on her bad side" William warns.

Why is he defending me? he knows I won´t be able to do any major damage to him. 

"She could be more than what you see."

"She doesn´t even rank in my danger scale." his tone is smug.

"Well she ranks in my danger scale pretty high up, so consider yourself warned." I am surprised by this statement.

"Why is that?" I hear Fred.

"Isn´t it obvious? He considers her, his mat …"my head jerks up and try to look at Ivan but he stops from adding anything else.

"…my friend" says William, completing the phrase that Ivan didn´t finish. That wasn't it, though. There was something else. I look at Fred but he is not revealing anything.

"There we are." says Ivan. I turn around and jerk around to get a better view.

William finally puts me down, but keeps an arm around me just in case I run up and try hitting Ivan.

I look around I can see there is a huge house in front of us. It has a very tall electric fence around it that it seems to go for miles evolving a big forest behind it, even with my vampires eyes I can´t see where it ends. I am able to hear the crashing of the waves nearby.

"Let´s go, I don´t want to be near here by the end of the day." I see that William is looking up to the sky. I do the same, according to my estimates we are near noon so we still have at least a couple of hours.

"Fred can help you if things get close." Ivan looks at Fred "can you?"

"No problem."

"How can you help us?" we start walking to the main entrance.

"He has the ability to repel." answers Ivan.

"Didn´t you feel sick when you saw me in the woods?" I look up at William, understanding setting in.

"Yes, but I assumed it was because I was really worried about you"

"Nope, that was Fred! You were actually very close to us the whole time but you didn't see us." I am happy I can finally say something that he doesn´t know.

"So you have an ability?" he looks back at Fred. This actually catches Fred attention. "I´ll tell you later."

We walk into the mansion and enter it, I am able to appreciate the decoration styles that it has and how they are mixing and matching pieces from different times, you could think they are knockoffs but when I get a closer look at one of it you can appreciate that is the real deal. Some items actually remind me of some pieces from the MET as well as some of the paintings. I try to get a closer look but Ivan is walking to fast for me to get a good glimpse at anything and since we are following him William keeps pulling me so that I don´t stray behind.

"Madame is expecting you in her office," answers a voice that is coming from one of the parlors. As soon as I hear the voice I start to get mad but I feel William grip tighten. I look at him and he shakes his head, probably not a good idea to go a pick a fight in the werewolves' layer so I breathe slowly trying to calm myself.

We walk into a room, which compare to some of the areas that we just passed. At one end of the room there is a big desk,its chair by a woman, her hair is white as snow, and pull back, dress very elegantly, with a scarf that goes around her neck. She is looking at something in front of her intently, the closer I get to the desk I realize is a scale, she notice that we have come in and she lifts her head. I realize that her eyes are close, but behind her eyelid there are no eyes, she is blind.

Behind her, there is small figure my first thought was of a child, but the closer we get I realize is a woman. It is hard to believe, she might be even shorter than I am.

Her look is young but is hard for me to pinpoint an exact age to her face, her hair a mass of wild blond curls pointing at every direction; her skin is neither tan or white;she could easily pass as a human except for the color of her eyes, which is a deep blue sapphire color, I´ve never seen anything like them. She is looking at us, as soon as she sees William there is recognition in her eyes, her smile widens and she waves her hand.

I turn and look at William, he smiles when he sees her.

Ivan stops a couple of steps before we reach the desk and bends down in one knee.

"Madame" he greets the older woman.

"Hello Ivan" it seems like she is looking at us with her empty eyes "looks like you have found an old friend" William bends his head saluting Madame. "And some interesting new friends" she smiles at Fred and me.

Fred follows William lead and bends his head; I just stare back at her.

"The male is Fred, he has been helping me the last couple of months and the annoying little one is Maya, she is William …friend" I start boiling up as soon as I hear Ivan and glare back at him, but seems that this only makes his day, he is smiling seeing my reaction.

She starts putting some weight in the scale and I can´t believe what my eyes are seeing, all the weights are in the same side and in the other side there is nothing but the scale doesn´t drop, it stay in perfect balance.

"Oh no, not just interesting new friends" she looks at me "some very gifted friends."

I look back at William, his face is surprise, but he composes almost immediately. Ivan stands up and is also looking at the scale, his face also surprised.

"Ivan, can you please introduce Fred to Althea" Ivan looks at Fred, and they start walking to the other side of the room, the younger women goes with them.

"Now, William it has been so long" I can see a smile in her face, I look at William and he seems to be happy to see her also"what took you so long?"

"Madame, it is nice to see you again" he walks to the other side of the desk, takes her hand and kiss it, he turns and looks back at me "this is Maya"

Madame turns and looks at me, I don´t know what to do, should I cross over like William and kiss her hand?... I don´t think so. I just stay here.

"Nice to finally meet you little one" her voice is kind, but I can still feel some anger rising up, I need to control myself, breath in, breath out, she laughs a little bit, like if she could see my reaction

"She is not use to werewolves" I can hear William explaining it to her "gets the worse in her and Ivan didn´t help"

"Well he usually brings the worse in us "she says laughing a little bit more.

I chuckle, even if I feel angry like hell, something inside the old bat makes me like her….just a little bit.

"You are very interesting vampire Maya, never seen anything like you" her voice is calm and reflective. She stays quiet for a while, staring at me with her empty eyes reflectively. I look down at the scale and I see it moving it, sometimes just fractional, others going up and down completely , her eyes never leaving my face, but her hand sensing those changes that the scale is making. After couple of minutes it finally stops, she smiles at me and finally turns and looks at William "take good care of her William, she is the one"

William just nods.

What did that mean?

"I´m sorry Madame, I don´t want to sound disrespectful, but what does that means?" I say controlling my temper and trying to sound polite.

"It is up to you to define it, child" she says her tone calm.

"I don´t understand" I look at her and then at William.

"Thank you Madame" William gets in one knee, showing the respect towards her, I am sensing that this short meeting is ending.

"No, what does that means?" I look back at Madame but she is not looking at me.

William stands up and starts walking towards the back of the room where the young woman, which I believe, is Althea is.

"William" he turns and looks at Madame " if I was you I would embrace every moment that I have, so don´t wait too long" he just nods, turns and goes at the end of the room.

"Take good care of him Maya" she is looking at him, I can see sadness in her face, she turns at me and it is as she is looking straight into my eyes." you won´t regret it."

I look at the back of the room and William is closing his eyes, Althea has her hands on his face and she has her eyes closed.

I look back, to say goodbye to Madame but she is no longer in the desk, I turn around trying to find her, but it seems that she has left the room.

"Maya your turn" Althea´s voice interrupts my thoughts; I walk over to where she is and realize that neither Fred or William are in the room anymore.

"They are fine Maya" Althea´s voice answers my thoughts. She gets in front of me and puts her hands at each side of my face.

"You know it wouldn´t hurt if I could remember slicing Ivan´s finger, it would help improve my self esteem" Althea laughs at this, but she shakes her head.

"What I am doing is for the werewolves' protection and yours" she gives me a small smile.

"So you are not a werewolf?" her smile widens but she keeps quiet.

"This won´t hurt Maya, just close your eyes" she ignores my comment and I do as she tells me "You will only be able to remember part of this until you see us again".

….

I open my eyes, I turn around and realize that I am in a lake, I look down and see that I have some skates in my feet, I don´t remember how I got them on, but I can very distinctly remember William bringing me here and blindfolding me, but didn´t I have something to tell him…..? Oh yeah, about the scent I pick up in the forest, I turn looking for William and I see him sitting in a rock at the frozen edge of the lake, there is a vampire with him. He is tall, he has blond hair, he looks young probably early twenty when he was change and as most of our kind his eyes are red, I sniff and sure enough that was the scent I picked up in the forest.

I start skating towards them that vampire looks familiar but I can´t quite manage to know where I have seen him. William looks up at me, and I wave my arm towards him, he smiles and waves back, before I reach them I make a twirl enjoying the experience of skating and maybe putting a little too much force than I intended, I finally reach William and the other vampire.

"See Maya, that is why I didn´t want you to skate in Rockefeller, too dangerous" he is shaking his head, but still smiling.

"I would have been able to control myself" I didn´t want to start a fight, after all William did prepare this surprise for me, I look at the other vampire" Hi, I am Maya"

"Fred" he smiles back at me and starts to stand up" it is nice to meet you two, but I need to leave now" my smile falters a little bit, I was very curious to meet another vampire: Rosalie, Emmet and Fred three in one year, a record.

"Thank you very much for all the information" he is looking at William.

I look at William what information are they talking about, didn´t he just got here?

"So soon?" I put a big smile on my face "why don´t you stay a little longer?"

"Maya, he has been here for a while, you just been too distracted skating" says William.

"Oh sorry" have I really been so distracted that I didn´t notice him?

"If you ever need anything contact me" Fred is handshaking with William but I notice that he is handing a small piece of paper to William in that brief handshake. They both stand up "hope to see you around someday" he looks back at me.I smile.

"Hope to see you also" I can see Fred leaving.

"We should go back" William brings my attention back to him, I want to stay a little longer skating, it doesn´t feel that I have been skating long "Come on Maya, let´s go"

"Okay, I´ll go quietly if I get just one more round, please?" I know I am putting my best face in trying to convince him, he looks back at me, I know he wants to say no, but I am winning the fight.

"Okay, Just one more" he accepts reluctantly and starts turning around to sit down in his previous spot. I take advantage of his distraction, give him a quick hug and start skating backwards, before he starts pushing me back or gets mad at me for coming close to him.

"Thank you for the surprise. I loved it" I blow him a kiss with my arm and before he can even manage to get a word out, I already turn and do my final round, making sure I enjoy every single moment, I finish with a twirl extending my arms and letting the wind caress my face with every turn. Thinking about the excellent time that I am having and how great William has been, my mind starts working on a plan to return William all the surprises.

I end and look back at him; he is just smiling and shaking his head. I know what he is thinking TOO DANGEROUS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Author´s note:
> 
> Thanks to my lovely Beta Lighting Laura for helping me beta this document.
> 
> Next Update will be next week.
> 
> I really hope to hear your comments about the story :)
> 
> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended


	9. Chapter 9.- We had a good run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: This chapter has not been BETA, I am waiting for it to be, but I won´t be able to post in two weeks and didn´t want to leave you in the dark. Hope you enjoy it.
> 
> M for violence.

Chapter 9- We had a good run.

Maya´s point of view…. April 2012

It has finally stop snowing here in Michigan, I was waiting a while to get some fresh snow in the ground and not the slush that was starting to become of the snow, I know the winter is almost over and that means more time indoors but I can´t complaint it has been a good long winter.

The house the agency provide us is wonderful, each room is huge, there is an indoor pool, a library full of all kinds of books, a big collection of movies, no close neighbors and it is in the border of the forest, which is perfect for hunting; good thing the owners decided to spend the winter in the Caribbean and thought of having house sitters.

William left a while ago to go, not telling me where he was going, so I am savoring every moment I have of "me" time.

The house has a big garden and it has finally stopped snowing, there are just a few snowflakes coming down. I put on light pink winter vest on, just in case any human that is near the property wouldn´t get suspicious, I mean a human could go out in a quick errand with just a winter vest?, I suppose….. Whatever, I put on my Wellington boots, and go out.

I start running at a slow pace and start twirling around, facing the sky, letting the small snowflake stay in my face and in my hair, knowing they won´t melt until I go inside the house. I extend my arms and fall backwards into a little snow mountain, and I move my arms up and down and I open and close my legs hoping to get a perfect snow angel.

Once I know the snow has marked my figure I sit down close my eyes and enjoy the smells I can detect in my surroundings. When I open my eyes I can see William standing at one of the windows looking at me, his face is serious. I smile at him and invite him to come and join me, but he shakes his face and with his hands tells me that it is time to come back.

I sight and get up, I look at my snow angel and with one feet, I put its halo, which is missing,

"Perfect" I say to myself.

I walk towards the house and William is waiting for me at the door, I notice that he has my items gather in my traveling bag, he also has his traveling bag with him. I am certain that we had the house all winter, why would we be moving.

"Come on Maya let´s go" he says when I come in, and close the door behind me.

"Did the agency call? I didn´t hear the phone ring" that could be the only logical explanation.

"No Maya, it´s just time" there was no joy in his voice.

"Okay" I smile at him but he doesn´t smile back. I turn my back at him and start walking towards the garage.

I hear the bags drop and feel his arms around me, stopping me from walking; this is a strange attitude of him, after our last almost out of control physical contact he has really limited to the basic.

It takes me by surprise this outburst, but it feels warm; I have always like the way he smells and being this close to him makes it overpowering.

I let him stay there and enjoy having him close; I turn my head and look at him, his eyes are sad, I make a face trying to make him smile, but it doesn´t, instead lets me go.

He picks up the bags and heads towards the garage, by the time I reach him he has already put them in the trunk of the car and he is opening my door, I slide in and he closes it. He moves quickly, gets in the driver seat, starts the cars and just stays there.

"So where are we going this time?" I say trying to start a conversation; I hope this changes his mood.

He doesn´t answer, he just sights and puts the car on drive.

We start driving and I see all the cars that we are passing by, he likes driving near the speed limit, but today his driving is slow for even highway standards, he is thoughtful.

"We have had some good times, right Maya?" his voice is full of sadness.

"Sure, I can´t complaint, the house was really nice" I put a cheerful tone trying to pass a part of my good mood to him.

"I wasn´t referring to the house, I mean the time we have been together" his question takes me by surprise, but just to humor him I give it a little bit of a thought.

"Well we had some rough patches at the beginning but so far I can´t complain. Why do you ask?" this is a strange conversation and I am not liking it.

"Good, I just needed to know that" still serious and he keeps quiet, ignoring my last question..

We are in Detroit, and he is driving in an area of abandoned buildings, I read the sign at it says Michigan Avenue, he stops the car and I look at the building that is standing in front of me, it is several feet tall, the lower part is full of graffiti, there is a fence surrounding it.

We get out of the car and William pulls my travelling bags out, we start walking towards the building and stops where the fence starts, he looks around and indicates with his head that we need to jump it. Once in the other side we walk towards one of the doors, it is board up but he easily pulls one of the boards and indicates for us to walk inside. There is a layer of dust covering the floor together with some bricks and pieces of glass; I can only imagine how spectacular this building used to be in its prime, right now is just an abandoned building. I start looking around wondering what this building is and I see a sign in on the floor indicating Michigan Central Station, why would William bring me here?

We walk around looking at the high concave ceilings, I wonder if I say something aloud what would be the acoustic. It reminds of New York grand central station, only a smaller version of it, which actually makes me smile remembering that trip that we made.

We enter the main hall and at the end there is big barrel that is light up, you can see smoke and fire coming out of there, it is winter so I can assume some homeless people use the building to shelter themselves from the weather. Next to the barrel there is a dark cloak figure, he has a tall built and muscular, compare to him William looks small. His back is to us. We walk towards him and we just walk a couple of steps the noise alerting him of our presence, he turns and looks at us. I turn to see William and see him stiff in place recognizing the figure; he composes his face and stops walking, so I follow his lead.

"Alton" he pronounces his name.

"William, good to see you again, it has been a while" he nods towards William "so this is her?"

"Yes, this is Maya" he puts his hand on my back I feel a small push forward; we keep walking a couple of more steps.

"She is small" he turns and looks at my face, his eyes are crimson red, a smile sets on his face, giving me the creeps "is she going to be a problem?"

"No she won´t" I look back at William, what does he means?. Did he forgot to inform me about something? "won´t you Maya?"

I don´t know what to answer there is a lot of confusion going on in my head to even provide him with one.

Alton gets closer; as he moves I am able to see behind the barrel a couple of leg child size lying in the floor, probably his latest victim, I am horrified. I can accept that our kind feeds on human blood and means murdering somebody, but my line crosses on a kid that in my eyes is unacceptable.

As my train of thought goes thinking on that poor creature, a hand is in my jaw, jerking my head to look up and I see Alton´s face.

"Can I say a few words to her, before you take her" Alton´s face looks back at William, never releasing the hold in my face.

I try to look at William, but the hold that Alton has on my face is strong, what does he means with before you take her? I am not planning in going anywhere with him!

"That won´t be necessary" responds Alton.

"She will need some kind of explanation, if you don´t want any trouble" William voice is stern, he is probably keeping up with his stare.

Alton releases my face, roughly.

"Go ahead" not moving an inch from where he was standing.

"Privately" William stand hasn´t move an inch either. They stay like this for a couple of minutes. Finally, Alton gives in.

"Get it done fast" he turns and goes back to the barrel, his back toward us.

Once that William considers he is far away he looks straight into my eyes and raises his hands and puts them in my face, his face is compose but his eyes are telling a different story.

"Listen to me Maya, please do everything he asks you" he whispers and I can hear a plead in his voice, I start to shake my head, his eyes are full of despair.

"What is going on William?." my voice comes out panicky "what does he means with this?"

"You and I" his voice breaks a little, he clears his throat " ...we had a good run, but is over, we can´t be together anymore" his face is serious, his eyes sad "but whatever you do, follow his instructions, don´t give him a reason to hurt you, He is dangerous. You got that?"

"Then why should I go with him?" I can´t control my voice, its starts to rise.

"Because you have to" he is trying to reason with me, but I don´t want to understand.

I shake my head, I can feel my eyes prickly, probably I would be crying if I could and my throat feels dry. Why is he leaving me?

"Are you done?" I can feel the voice next to me, Alton´s scent fills my space and I don´t like it.

"Yes" William releases my face and stands up straight "maybe I should come with you?"

"There is no need for that, you have complied with your orders soldier, you are dismissed and free to go" I hear the command of Alton´s voice.

William nods, and turns and starts walking the way we came, I turn around and see how he is leaving, my mind can´t understand what my eyes are seeing, all those years we have been together, all those feelings I though I saw only a façade?

"NO!"I start to run towards him, but Alton grabs my arm hard and holds me in place. "Let me go" I look at Alton and I see a smile in his face, I look back at his eyes "LET -ME–GO"

"Feisty, this is going to be fun" he turns me so that I can see William leaving he is enjoying my pain, his arm is a cage against my body and I can feel Alton's hand putting more pressure in my arm, pain is shooting through it .

"William, don´t, go!" I use the pain in my arm in that scream transmitting the despair that I am feeling, I see his pace faltering, but he is not turning around he just keeps on walking. I hear laughter in my ear, his mouth is almost touching my ear, I can smell his breath and I start feeling sick.

"We are going to have so much fun" now his nose is going up and down my cheek, leaving a sensation of disgust on it.

"William, please, I want to be with you!" I can hardly see him now.

Before I can see the reaction in William, Alton turns me around and slaps me hard in the cheek, my head stays turned, I feel a lot of pain in my face, I can point exactly where each of his finger was the moment his hand touch my face and it is pulsing with pain.

"Do you want to have fun Maya?" there is a smile on his face.

Before I can answer, Alton hits me with his arm and sends me flying all the way, where the barrel is. I hit the wall feeling how it cracks on my back.

I slide down to the floor and that is when I see her; the body that was behind the barrel, is a girl, probably just starting her teens, she is laying all wrong, her limbs are pointing in an unnatural way and you can tell a lot of her bones are shattered. Her eyes are showing the terror of what was happening when Alton decided to kill her.

There is not a doubt in my mind that death didn´t come soon enough for her and now I am certain that at some point I will share that look without any hope of her outcome.

Alton has reach me before I can even try anything and pulls me up, his hand on my throat cutting my air supply and hurting me, I know I am not longer touching the floor, my feet are kicking madly trying to hit him hard, managing only to make him laugh. His face comes closer to mine; his breath is on my nose.

"The best part of this, you don´t get to skip on me, at least until we get to our final destination" he laughs in my face.

"W-I-L-L-I-A-M" I put whatever is left of my breath in that single shout.

Alton drops me in the floor and I hit my head on the floor. I start to get up and Alton is in front of me, laughing.

I hear a growl on the back, Alton turns and he keeps laughing.

"LEAVE HER ALONE ALTON!." I can hear William furious voice; I start to feel some relief.

"She is no longer your concern soldier" his voice is stern and mad; he is not happy to be interrupt.

"SHE WILL ALWAYS BE MY CONCERN!." I see William running towards Alton and Alton meeting him. He pushes his whole body at William and drops him on the floor, falling on top of him.

Alton bites William on the arm and spits the piece of what use to be William arm, which ends up near of where I am, I look at the piece and start to feel sick

William doesn´t even falters; he pushes Alton with his legs, managing to get him off, he stands up so stealthy and prepares for Alton's next attack.

He moves forward again full force and tries to hit him, but William is fast. He ducks and slides his legs making Alton fall, I feel the floor of the building tremble and a resonating bang; but he is not staying in the floor, he is quick and punches William in the face, the impact pushes him several feet but he lands in a crouch.

Alton is laughing; he stands up and waits for William to make his attack.

They stay there measuring each other, trying to predict their opponents next move, William looks at me, and he can see the terror in my eyes. Alton takes advantage of his distraction and runs towards William, he is using his full body force like a bull engaging on an attack but before he hits William, he sweeps his body to one side, making Alton miss him for just an inch, William jumps backwards, coming near me.

"Why are you standing there?, RUN!."He says this without looking at me.

I don´t even question his order, I stand up and run towards a staircase that is near me. I look back and see Alton engaging again, this time William jumps just in time and I see Alton stopping just a few inches before hitting the lighted barrel.

"Hey Alton" he turns to look at William, his face is full of rage, Alton is so absorbed on the fight he doesn´t notice than when he turn his cloak pass on the flames catching fire.

"Ole! "William puts a big smile in his face and gets in a posture like a matador, making Alton more furious.

Alton starts running again, but the fire on his cloak starts to burn faster and now it is in his arm and part of his torso spreading so fast.

William jumps again as high as the ceiling allows him. Alton´s body crumple in place, the fire spreading fast becoming a ball of fire, black smoke is coming out of the ball, a few feet away from William the ball stops becoming a burning pile of skin and flesh and latter just a bunch of ashes.

William is near the fire looking at what it used to be Alton and throws something on the fire, I realize that it is Alton´s head, it looks like in that last jump he tore his head off, I stay put near the staircase, I can´t take my eyes from William. He stands up, walks towards the area where the piece of his arm fell, he licks it and puts it back where it belong; the amazing thing is that it connects again, like a piece of a puzzle fitting perfectly.

I come closer to where he is now, he is assessing the damage that Alton left, I can see where the lines of Alton´s teeth were when he bite the piece off William, now only revealing a scar.

"Thank you William" is the only thing that comes to mind.

"Maya, we are in a lot of trouble, let´s hope whoever sent him thinks one of his enemies got to him first" he says showing no sentiment in his words. "Let´s go" he is not looking at me. I follow him just a few steps behind him.

He reaches the car first and opens my door, I get in and he closes it. I can hear the trunk opening and he is looking for something inside, it doesn´t takes very long before I hear the trunk closing and him opening the door and getting in.

"Maya" he says coldly " I need you to hide this for me" his voice is robotic, he doesn´t even looks at me, he just hands me a small package that looks like documents " never reveal to me where you hide it, let's say that is for a rainy day, you got that?"

"Yes" I say looking curiously at the package.

He puts the key in the car and turns it on; there is an internal struggle in his mind. I know he is pondering what just happen inside, somehow killing that vampire is going to have a lot of consequences which I don´t know what are and I am afraid to know, I would like to ask him but I know right now is not the right time to do it.


	10. Chapter 10.- There might be more to you, than you think

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: This chapter has not been BETA, I am waiting for it to be, but I won´t be able to post in two weeks and didn´t want to leave you in the dark. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 10.- There might be more to you, than you think.

POV Maya

William starts the car and pulls into the interstate.

He is not putting a lot of attention to any direction particularly, he usually is very focus and keeps me updated or makes me memorize the correct road to wherever our destination is; today is different I know there isn´t any particular road he is looking for, he is just there driving.

We keep this pace for several days; we just stop for gas and then continue on our endless road to nowhere; him just there thinking. There are times I just want him to start talking even if it is a stupid joke, other times I just want him to look at me, smile and tell me that everything is going to be all right, but I am getting nothing.

In several of our stops I get out of the car, do a quick sightseeing looking for a perfect spot to hide the package. In one of the stops near Vancouver , there is a small statue of a couple of children playing, there is a part of the statue that is not properly welded, with my arms I am able to pull it giving it a small gap, where the package can be slide in. I push it in and with one blow from my arm, I close the gap, leaving it the same way it was previously, I go back where the car is. He is so absorb in his mind that it´s like he doesn´t even notice the package is no longer in my arms, I manage to close the door pulling it with my leg and as soon as the sounds indicates that is close he starts to drive.

I suddenly start to notice a pattern in the driving, he is going to different places we have been in, never stopping to view anything. He just keeps moving, my hopes get up a little when we go back to Michigan maybe this would be out last stop back to the house that we were home sitting, but nothing like that happens, we just pass by it.

This is not the same William I have share almost 150 years. I don´t know who this zombie like vampire is, killing Alton shifted something in him. It comes to a point where I wish Alton had taken me in hopes of William being the old cheerful guy that I know he is and have come to love.

Another week pass by, following this routine and I just can´t take it anymore.

"Okay William, that´s enough" I look at him, he is still driving and doesn´t even look at me "please, just look at me" I touch his hand with my arm, trying to get his attention.

"No Maya" he pulls his arm away without even looking at me.

"I know you don´t want to talk to me, but please I need to know" my voice is pleading.

"Maya, I can´t tell you" he turns briefly his head and looks at me.

"You can´t tell me or you won´t tell me?" I am starting to get mad at him, but I keep a calm tone.

"Both" he says.

"So are we planning on driving to the end of the world, or do you have a specific destination in mind?" I control of my voice, screaming at him will not get me any answers.

"We just need to keep moving" he says no emotion playing in his face.

"You are aware that at some point we will need to stop" my throat is hurting and I know he is also.

"Why would we do that?" I still hear that robotic tone in his voice.

"Well you know, that small inconvenience call feeding, it has been a while now "I try to put a gentle tone.

"Okay, fine, I promise you we will stop soon" still no emotion in his voice, driving me crazy.

A little while passes and he is still just driving

"Penny for your thoughts" I try a different approach, easier to catch flies with honey that with vinegar.

"Maya, please stop" his tone is severe.

"Pleeeeaaaasseee" this usually works and let me get away with almost anything.

"I said no!" his tone is now mad.

"Well, you own me some answers considering that you were handing me to Alton and you were walking away from me" I am holding back and try to keep an amicable tone but is becoming harder and harder.

"I don´t own you anything Maya" he is furious" I shouldn´t have gone back for you "that feels like a slap on my face, nice going Maya.

"Then why? Looks like your life just went to hell by doing so. Was it even worth it?" The hell with catching flies with honey.

"If it was the other way around Maya, would you have done the same for me?" he looks straight into my eyes,

"I wouldn´t have even gone to the train station in the first place" I say keeping up with his stare.

"What if you didn´t have a choice?" his eyes haven´t left my face

"There is always a choice" I keep eye contact so that he knows I mean it.

"Not when it comes to THEM" at this point he is shouting.

"Who is THEM?" I am so mad that my tone is as loud as his, his face is set, he is not going to tell me anything "Answer the question?"

"NO!"

"ANSWER THE QUESTION SOLDIER!? "I remember Alton referring to him like that and I don´t know how, but my voice has so much authority "WHO IS THEM!?" This makes William flinch, seems like that was a blow under the belt.

"Fine Maya, if you must know, the Volturi" now he is furious.

The car goes silent, I never expected that answer, I know the Volturi is kind of the Police, and usually if they are looking for you, no good can come out of it, at least that is what the couple of vampires that we met six years ago inform me and William attitude corroborates it.

I am now ashamed of forcing the answer out of William, he had protected me and he was still doing it by keeping quiet.

"Why?" I am no longer screaming my voice comes out as a whisper; I keep looking down at my arms, where my hands should be "Why would the Volturi care for someone like me? I haven´t broken any law"

"I don´t know Maya" he is not looking at me anymore, his voice is silent now, I can detect the sadness in it "there might more to you, than you even know"

"Doubt it" I knew where I stand in the vampire world, and if there was a scale, I would be in the lowest part of it.

"Give yourself a little credit" his voice is still sad, but he is looking into my eyes "you just need to believe in yourself" he touches my arm "Okay?"

I nod.

He takes an exit to a camp area and parks the car in a resting spot. We have been here before a couple of times, there are some cabins up for rent down the path, they are usually very busy during summer and winter but in between seasons, they are empty. We stay here when we don´t have a job as house sitters.

"You are right, we need to feed" he changes the subject "Wait for me in our usual cabin, I´ll be fast and I´ll bring something for you"

I am about to argue that I want to go hunting, I need the exercise after all those days sitting in the car, but the look on his face stops me, is a clear sign that this was not up for discussion.

He leaves, and I walk towards the cabin and see the one that William was referring. I hit the door with my arm using enough force to break the wood that locks the door.

The cabin is very nice, it is furnish and the owners are thorough, probably hoping to make it easier for the customers when it comes to packing. There is nice little kitchen, with a stove a refrigerator, a small table, it even has pots and pans, plates, glasses, cutlery. In the other side, there is a small living room with a chimney and a moose head on top of it to create the whole effect.

The cabin has two rooms that are facing each other. One has a queen size bed and the other has two individual beds and a small bathroom at the end of the hall. It is very cozy and I remember with great fondness the times that we have stayed here.

I decide to go to the bedroom with the two individual beds; I like to stay in this one. The sunshine comes through in the morning giving an excellent view of the mountains, but since it is the afternoon and the sun is almost setting you can´t see the effect. I sit at one of the corners of the room, wondering how our life has change so drastically since the last time we were here, I used to complain that we needed more adventure, be careful for what you wish for, they say, now I understand it .

I can hear William come in, he walks down the hall and finds me in the corner of the room, I look up at him and see that his eyes are still black , I would have thought that he already hunt and fed himself, but then I notice that his eyes are full of fear.

"Maya, the Volturi are here" his voice is full of defeat. How is that possible, we just got here? He stretches his arm and helps me stand up, using a little too much force so I end up in his arm my body against his chest. He gives me a hug and we linger like this, I don´t want to go anywhere I want to stay in his arms like this, safe and warm.

I look up to his eyes and he is looking back at me he is saying a wordless goodbye, whatever happens in the other side he knows that nothing good is coming out for him and probably neither for me, I am so afraid, I can´t even imagine a life without him. He gives me a kiss on the forehead making me feel so love wishing for this moment to never end.

I can´t let go of him, I can´t lose him. He hugs me again and he whispers so low that I can barely hear him

"Maya, just remember whatever happens I will always protect you. Do you understand me?"

I look up to his eyes understanding the sincerity of his words and the meaning of them, I give a small nod and start walking with him trying to find my courage while we face whatever is awaiting us in the other side of the cabin.

…

The first thing I notice when I cross the door is five cloaked figures in the cabin kitchen, making it look smaller somewhat claustrophobic.

Closest to the exit door are two tall male vampires covering the entrance to the cabin, they are standing very still, but their eyes are shifting looking at all the room surely analyzing it, there is no doubt they are some kind of body guards.

Near the table, there are three figures. A female with crimson eyes, she is around my height, with also black hair, a slight built and she is touching the cloak of a tall male vampire. The male vampire hair is long black and slick, his eyes are crimson red, and his features are elegant. The last figure is a small female child, her hair is blond and pull back, her eyes red like the rest, there is a lot of eagerness in her eyes I can almost taste her desperation. I look down and in her hands there is black velvet bag, I can feel a call coming out of it, pulling me to it, but I control myself.

The small child catches me eyeing the package, and I see a smug expression in her face, she is taunting me and I find myself growling at her.

"Jane, please play nice" there is excitement in the voice of the tall male vampire" we don´t want to frighten our little friend."

The vampire, which I now know is Jane, stops the smug but I can see a  
dark shadow coming into her eyes.

That voice, I remember hearing THAT voice somewhere, so long ago , my mind is racing through the years, through our journeys, but I am not able to pinpoint the moment where I have heard it, which honestly I am finding quite annoying.

"William, it has been so long, I hope you didn´t thought we forgotten you" the male vampire looks at William.

I look at William at his face is expressionless, it is so cold I can´t get any reading of his emotions, he just nods courtly, indicating he understood.

"Oh come on William, no hello, nice to see you, let´s see… how about giving me a small shake for all times sake" his tone was friendly as well as his face, but somehow I get the feeling that this is an order, no matter how much he is trying to sugar coat it.

I look back at William and see understanding and reluctance in his eyes; he gives a small sigh, steps forward, stretches his hand and the other vampire reaches for it.

"Oh I see" says the male "this is quite interesting development "I wonder…."

I look back at William and his eyes are close, he is resisting something but at the end, his eyes open and there is defeat in them. He steps back and stands straight his face showing no expression once again.

"Ooh I see, that is not good, Caius is not going to be happy about it, Alton was one of his favorites guards you see. But you are already aware of the consequences?" he looks at William still smiling, William just nods.

"I see that you have treated her right; although a little too liberal once in a while and going through some loopholes of your orders. However the idea is there, she still doesn´t know who she is, right?" this last part he looks straight to my eyes. I am confused what does he means, I look back to William, he is not looking at me, his face is still the same, and no word is coming out of his mouth.

I look back to the male and his eyes are resting in mine, his interest is spiking, together with mine.

"Let's see ….Maya?" He refers to me in a form of a question, but how does he knows my name, is not as if we have been introduced, he continues ignoring my questioning look "I have a proposal for you, I see that your life has not been ….shall we call it easy, without hands, right?"

How does he knows what my life has been like? I can see that he has his own hands. Then it hits me, he was reading William mind when he touched his hand. I am too petrified to answer his questions and the calling is getting stronger becoming a distraction, I try to tune it out, without any luck.

"What would you do, if I could give you, I don´t know a hand ….or maybe two?" his tone is still amicable, even joking, which honestly considering my situation I don´t find the humor on it; he is looking at me expecting an answer.

"I am listening" My throat is feeling dry, but somehow I manage to get the words out of my mouth.

I can see the excitement that my words have on him; this is what he wants to hear.

"Would you come to Volterra and be part of the Guard again?" his face changes in this last words, he knows he just slip up. Again? What does he means with the word …again?

Suddenly, imagine starts to flow in my mind and it is easy to place his voice. The sewage, the smell of putrefaction, long time ago, pain in my wrist, pain in my body, pain so strong I was wishing I was dead, that night, the words.- you would have been an excellent element in a guard, too bad you are so stubborn like a mule.

I just snap, I remember a part of my past before William, with that; I jump to attack the tall figure. The dark haired female jumps in front of me and before I can reach my objective I start feeling strange; I can´t figure out what was I about to do.

"Renata, don´t worry about her, she won´t be able to hurt me. She does look lovely trying doesn´t she. Like a kitten trying to attack a lion" Renata moves to his side, but she doesn´t stop touching the cloak of the tall figure "your should focus on William my dear, he is the actual danger"

"Yes Master" answers Renata in a quiet voice and eyes William; this definitely is not a better choice for her.

"Now where, were we?" He is trying to joke through the seriousness of the situation "right. I made you a proposal, so my dear Maya, …"he makes a move with his hand and suddenly the two guards that were standing in the door move to each side of William "what is it going to be, a part of our guards or, whatever years stuck in whatever place….."

I look at William trying to look for an answer, his face is looking at the tall man, his face still not showing any emotion, but I can detect a very light shake of his head.

"….without William" suddenly everything happens too fast, and at the same time too slow. That phrase has a double meaning, somehow in either scenery William will never be a part of my life again. The tall man mention a consequence for killing Alton, I will have to assume is a death sentence on his head. Either choice I pick he is not leaving this cabin alive, but his words are masquerade making me believe that if I chose going with him William would be safe…a Lie. I don´t like to be lied!

In that instant, my vampire instincts kick in a notch and is as if I am hearing William voice in my ears repeating his hunting mantra. Go for the weak one, use the element of surprise, know your surroundings and use whatever is at hand; using all the strength that I could gather in that instant, I throw myself to Jane, she is off guard and we both fall to the floor, a chair from the kitchen aiding me to trip her and me. She drops the bag in the floor during her fall; its content falling on the white cold floor. I look back and see William defending himself from the two guards; they did not expect him to be so strong and fast, but he won´t last long, the other two are not bad fighters.

Jane is still in the floor trying to recover from the shock of ME being able to push her, but before I am able to see anything, I realize the calling is getting louder. I look up, and realize the calling is coming from the contents of the bag, that have been spilled on the floor, a pair of hands, not just any hands, my hands.

My mind goes to the instant when William attach that piece of his arm after the fight with Alton.

Jane gets up and focus her eyes not in me, but in William, I hear him scream in pain piercing my insides. I need to help him. I take advantage of her distraction and move towards the hands somehow I am able to lick them and I put my arm where my wrist are.

The tall male realizes what I am doing and starts to move towards me; a loud "Amalia no, stop "is coming from his mouth. I don´t care, no matter how close he is, how fast he is, he won´t reach me in time for my hands are already attached to my arms, like two perfect pieces of a puzzle. At least now I have something to put more of a fair fight and help William out.

I look back at the scene, William in the floor no longer convulsing, Jane has a look of horror in her face, Renata trying to catch up with the male that is still coming towards me. The two tall figures wondering if they should finish off William or focus their attention on me instead.

In that small distraction the male grabs one of my hands, his bare hand touches my bare skin; thousands of images go through my mind, is hard to keep up, it is literally a life flashing in front of me, but that life is not mine, those thoughts are not mine, they are from the male vampire….Aro.

I look into his eyes and he is astonish, I know that he can see what I am seeing and I know I will remember everything.

Time being precious no time to analyze the information; William needs my help. My instincts kick in, again, I know that I can protect him, help him, I could manage to see that from Aro´s mind.

I raise my hands and feel the power go through my thoughts towards my hands and putting it on the mind of the ones that are attacking us. They are trying to destroy William and that is unacceptable, all I can see are the two guards, Jane, Renata and Aro screaming and convulsing in the floor in pain.

How can they think they can do whatever they want? I intensify the power one notch for every year without my hands. Another for the pain it has brought me and they inflicted. Above all, for trying to destroy the only vampire that has kept me alive, that has cared for me and that I love.

I am so mad I am blinded; I can feel the power flowing through me and I don´t care if I have to put this up forever.

"MAYA!" I hear William voice and it snaps me out from the trance I am. He is also in the floor convulsing in pain, his eyes trying to contact mine, but all I read is fear…of me?

My train of thought changes and I stop the flow. How can I hurt him?, what am I?, how can I do this?, how can I control it?, I start to freak out but before I can do anything else, William manages to stand up, he looks weak and his legs are wobbling. At least he is standing while the others seem to be recovering from the pain, or some kind of shock.

"WE NEED TO GET OUT NOW!" He is screaming and his eyes are urgent

If my hands were remove, it was for a reason; I was able to see Aro´s mind when I touch his hand and I know that the power to inflict pain went through them. Seems that I need to be careful. Cover them an internal voice screams in my head.

"Wait!" the cabin manager is very thorough, I open the drawer next to the stove and luck is still on my side. I grab some oven mittens and put them over my hands.

"Maya no time to pack!" he is desperate and I understand why, the other vampires are starting to recover.

"This is all that I need." He pulls me to his back and we bolt towards the door and into the night.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended


	11. Chapter 11.- Past and Present

Chapter 11.-Past and Present

Maya POV 

It has been a long and nerve-wracking night since we left the Volturi in the cabin and started running. We need to put as much distance between them and us, and we're not going to accomplish that with my actual speed. William is carrying me on his back; I usually object to this, but I know it's a necessity. He hasn´t said anything for a while; he just keeps running,

"Where to, Maya?" he screams towards me, considering it's hard to hear over the whooshing of the wind his speed is creating.

I am able to make his words out and can hear the anxiousness on his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the package I gave you to hide for a rainy day?"

Understanding settles in.

"Ooohh." I remember the statue and where I'd put it.

"Well, it's pouring and we need to disappear!"

I am hesitant. When he gave me the package he was very specific not to ever tell him where it was.

"Maya?" His voice is on edge.

"Okay," I say reluctantly. "We need to go near the border with Canada and then…"

"Okay, Maya, don´t tell me anymore until we get there." He stops and gently puts me down on the ground.

It's night, and we are in the suburb of a town. It's full of houses all nicely lined up; some have some picket fences, the lawns are all properly cut, and all the cars are parked in their driveways. Far away, there is a man walking a dog. He stops, and the dog starts barking madly. We hide behind some bushes to stay out of sight, listening to the man cursing as he walks away, probably pulling the dog who keeps on barking.

Once we can no longer hear the human, William turns and looks at me. He whispers very low so no human will be able to hear us, "We need to look for another transportation method. One that does not leave a trail of our scent. We need another car…"

I nod. He knows I hate to steal anything from anyone.

"Since at this point is unavoidable, how about that one?" He points to a car parked right in front of us; which, turns out to be a BMW M3 E93.

He loves constantly using the computer and surfing the net, looking for the new gadgets and different kind of information; cars being one of them. He's fascinated by them; especially the flashy, fast ones.

"Well that one's nice, but wouldn´t that be a better one?" I move my head toward a red Audi Spyder that's parked next to the house across the street.

If we need to be fast….

His eyes show the dilemma that's going on in his mind, but I know the Audi will be a faster car, and he'll enjoy it far more than the BMW, and so will I.

"Pleaseeee?" I plead, trying to sway his decision towards the Audi.

"How about we go for something a little bit more standard this time? We don't want the cops on our tail, and let the Volturi know where we are."

"Well, if we're looking for something a little bit more standard let's just go for the Honda Civic." My finger points to the car that's parked by the house that's right behind us. I'm momentarily distracted to discover that I'm somehow able to do point at something again, but I refocus on the matter at hand. the irony "heck just for the environment sake lets go for the Prius" I was being sarcastic and disappointed, so no Spyder for us tonight.

"That might be a wiser choice," he looks back at me, seeing my expression full of horror. He's mocking me, considering the circumstances, and smiles at me. I've missed that smile, "but we do need to be little fast. Besides, the BMW has tinted windows."

"Fine," I say reluctantly. The BMW's not a bad choice, compared to the others.

"Stay here," he instructs me.

He crosses the street, looks inside the car, and smiles. He opens the door—there's no alarm—he gets in, and all of the sudden, the cars starts to purr. I walk to the passenger seat and open the door, amazed that I finally got to do that on my own. Once I get in, he puts the car in drive and steps on the gas pedal.

"Come on, Maya, admit it, this is a good choice," he says, looking at the road ahead, driving as fast as he can with the lights off.

"Why?"

"Turns out the owners are very trusting people. There was no alarm and there is a pair of gloves there; you can get rid of those stupid oven mitts," he says laughing a little bit.

I can´t help but laugh a little, considering the night we're having.

…..

It's been a long couple of days and nights. I've been going through the images that I saw and trying to make sense of them. William hasn´t interrupted me; he keeps driving and seems to be doing some thinking of his own.

The first thing that I'm trying to focus on is who am I. I can´t remember much before my little run down with Jane, and—who I now know is—Alec, but Aro´s thoughts are showing me far more than what I expected.

Considering that the memories I'm seeing are Aro´s, everything I see is from his point of view, together with his own thoughts. I try to picture my own images and remember when the first time Aro met me was.

I feel like I'm in a library looking for information, and suddenly everything starts clearing up….

…

Another tour of vampires is coming to get a good look at royalty. It seems fair enough—it's been a while since that happened—but what makes it more interesting is meeting the slowest and weakest vampire. Somehow is seems impossible. Unfortunately, it needs to be swift; we need to take care of the situation that has come to our attention in England. I need to appoint some of the members of the guard to verify and make sure the corrective measures are in place.

Such a nuisance!

Although I´ve heard that things have quietened down, and there's a good background story—something about a terrible accident—but just to be on the safe side we need to confirm that things are back in course, and provide a good warning to the responsible vampire.

"Brother." Caius comes and takes his place next to me. "Demitri is ready, as is Jane"

"They should feed before they leave. It shouldn´t be long before Heidi arrives. Plus this won´t take long, brother." The newcomers are just arriving in the throne room. I stand up to greet the small party of two, and I can tell that Caius is annoyed. He usually doesn´t approve of this small gathering, but we need to give the people that we rule a small glimpse of royalty.

"Welcome to Volterra, friends." I look at the couple of vampires that are approaching the staircase, before joining them. I recognize the male as he approaches to greet us—which takes me by surprise, considering that we parted in not very good terms some years ago.

That is strange, killing his daughter is not something that can be easy forgotten, but who knows?.

"Benancio, nice to see you again"

"Aro," His stand is tense, and he lowers his head in a reverence, "I would like to present to you Amalia."

I turn and see the small female that is with him. I don't think much of her; my thoughts are distracted by Benancio. Analyzing her, the first thing that comes to my mind is that she is petite, but you wouldn´t mistake her for a child; she has made sure about that with the simple white dress that she chose for the occasion. The corset hugs her figure, accentuating her small waist with a small, light pink ribbon around it. The top part of her dress, delicately shows that her bosom is a grown woman's. She wears a simple necklace with a cross around her neck. While her dark black hair is pulled back in a bun, decorated with small flowers around it. Not a single hair is out of place. Her face is beautiful—above average for our kind. Her features are soft and delicate; her black eyebrows perfectly defined.

Based on the way that she has presented herself, I would think of her as a perfectionist.

"Nice to meet you, Amalia. Let me introduce you my brothers Marcus and Caius."

She makes a courtesy to each of us, but she is not smiling. Her stance is serious, and her eyes are showing fear.

I return my attention back to Benancio; I also detect the same fear on his eyes.

"I imagine, Benancio, that you are not here to meet us, considering the previous circumstances." he flinches, but composes himself quickly. "So I assume this is the the slowest and weakest vampire that you mentioned?"

"Yes, Aro, but actually, we come here to turn ourselves in." His voice is serious. I turn and look at Marcus and Caius. I can see that Caius is alert after hearing Benancio's admission..

"What is it this time, Benancio?" Caius comes down and joins me; he looks from Benancio to Amalia.

"I believe that you are aware of the situation in England," Benancio speaks up.

Caius is now alert. He extends his hand; I take it. His thoughts are transmitting that we might not need Jane and Demitri after all.

I give him a brief nod and I let go of his hand.

"So what exactly happened, Benancio?" I look at the old man and he steps forward and extents his hand. He is aware of how the procedure works. Good, it saves me the time of going through the theatrics.

It seems interesting enough … an accident with fire; it's something that could occur in the human world, but … wait … those children… Why did Amalia save them…?

I turn and look at Amalia; her face is serious and she is looking at Caius. I continue with the images.

Oh! So she thought she could prevent the children from talking by telling them some odd story. Tsk, tsk, tsk. It is not very believable. Of course they didn´t believe the story she told them. They spoke with the priest and confessed what they saw… and he thought of Amalia as a witch.

Hmmm. Okay, Benancio, you took care of the priest and silenced him, but why is Amalia still defending the children? Oooohhh, seems that Benancio learned his lesson from his daughter, Catalina, regarding the vampire laws. Immortal children should not be created. Innocent Amalia. You thought you could convince Benancio to wait until they grew up to change them. It's too much of a risk in the meantime, but they kill them and there were no witnesses. In addition, they spread a rumor about a family curse. Hmmm. It's not entirely believable, but at least it doesn´t point to us or our secret.

It looks that Amalia was the one to decide to turn them over. She thought this way we would wait to listen to the story and the outcome. I´ll hand it to her; that is rather smart.

"Thank you, Benancio, for sharing that story." I turn and see the wondering look of Caius. "Brother, seems that they already took care of their own situation." I look at Amalia and see pain in her eyes and relief in Benancio.

Caius eyes me; he was excited about him going to England to deal with the issue. He takes a hold of my hand. His thoughts are clear regarding his feelings of being lied and tricked so they could tell their part of the story. He is afraid of the precedent that this kind of behavior is leaving and insists on punishing both of them. After all, he thinks they lied about meeting the slowest and weakest vampire of all time; false witness.

"They did not lie. It seems that our dear Amalia does, indeed, have a small problem with that," I answer his thoughts aloud. I look at Amalia and she is not very fond of the comment.

There is something about her in the memories of Benancio that catches my attention. She is smart. I am able to see different times that she outsmarts another vampire, Luca, and manages to make some earnings for their coven without bringing suspicion to them. It won´t hurt to check her thoughts. "Just to make sure Amalia, dear, that it is not all an act." I extend my hand. She steps forward, reluctantly, and stretches out her hand.

Okay, she is quite smart actually. It seems that the vampire that reported the situation holds a grudge against her, but he wasn´t lying either. Hmmm. It seems that Benancio´s feelings are corresponded. She thinks of him like a father figure, taking care of her and Luca. She mainly accepted doing all of this to protect him and Luca. Come to think of it, Luca seems interesting as well. It would be nice to test his ability in Volterra.

"Don´t call Luca, please!" she finally speaks up, breaking my concentration. How did she know that I was planning to do this? She can´t hear what I think? Can she?

I look at Caius and his look is doubtful, not understanding what she means. Amalia's look is also full of shock. I let go of her hand.

"My dear, nobody mentioned anything about bringing Luca in." I smile to her, gaining her confidence to understand what just happened.

"I heard you." Her voice is full of confidence.

"Don´t be disrespectful." Caius starts coming closer to her, but I put my arm up to interrupt him.

"I didn´t say it aloud, but I thought about it." I eye Caius so that he knows that there is something interesting about this female. He gives a small nod. "So you heard me. What exactly did you hear, child?"

She turns and looks at Benancio. He gives her a look indicating she should go on and answer the question.

"I heard and saw everything." Her voice is dubious.

A new talent?

"Everything that I just thought?" She bites her lower lip and closes her eyes.

"No. Everything that you have ever thought and saw." Astounded, I turn and look at Caius. I see distrust in his eyes towards Amalia. He grabs my hand and communicates, "This might be a trick. We need to tread carefully."

"Amalia, this is not the time to lie." Benancio is looking at Amalia, a warning look on his face.

"You know I don´t lie." She looks hurt by what Benancio is implying.

"Let´s make a test to see if that is true." I can see from Benancio´s mind that he has never revealed to her what happened to Catalina or who Catalina actually is. A secret. "Touch Benancio´s hand."

Benancio steps forward, not letting Amalia give a second thought to what I am requesting and grabs Amalia´s hand. Her look is shortly lost as is Benancio's. Their looks are full of wonder. He releases her hand after a short while and steps aside from her.

"Now, child, who is Catalina?" She turns and looks at me. I see sadness in her eyes.

"You killed her, but she was…." Her voice is desperate and her face full of horror.

"Breaking the law, therefore she was punished," Caius finishes the sentence.

"Brother, don´t provide her the answers. We are testing her." Caius looks at me and understands. "Now, Amalia, you were saying?"

She turns and looks at Benancio; he is not looking at her.

"She was Benancio's human daughter. He was changed first, but he didn´t want to leave her behind. The world back then was cruel to orphans, so he changed her shortly after, when she was old enough."

Well, well, well….

"He loved her with all his heart. She fell in love with a human and revealed her true nature to him, never informing Benancio about him. Unfortunately, the human didn´t keep the secret, therefore you took care of her and him." Her voice is full of sadness.

"Does Catalina remind him of somebody Amalia?" I look inquisitively at her, but her eyes are still closed.

"Yes. I remind him of Catalina and he did not want to go through the same agony of losing another daughter. That is why he came with me. He would rather have us both killed, than to lose another daughter." She opens her eyes and looks at Benancio, an apologetic look in her eyes.

"I´m so sorry Benancio."

"Was she able to do this before?" My voice brings Benancio´s attention to the present. He shakes his head.

This is strange. Why is she able to do this now? Could it be that maybe while I was reading her mind, she learned something? I remember seeing in my memories how fast she learned to sew dresses, learn languages, play instruments, garden, even cook….human food?. Could it be possible that she was able to learn my ability, by my getting in her mind, understanding how it worked, and mimicking it?

This calls for further testing. Maybe, just maybe, I have found a golden pot with Amalia.

"Amalia, how would you feel to be a part of our Guard?"

…..

I move forward in the memories of myself that were on Aro´s mind.

…..

Okay, so it looks like she was not able to replicate Corin´s ability, but she was able to go through her mind as well. Maybe that is because Corin´s ability is more of a physical ability and not so much as a mental ability. Considering that she is physically weak, there is not much, we can do about that. That means we can cross Heidi off the list as well.

"Thank you, Corin." Corin turns and smiles at me.

"Please return with Athenodora and Sulpicia. I am sure they are missing you." She makes a courtesy and leaves the throne room.

"Alec. Jane." They look up from the position in which they were standing in the throne room. "Time for you to test Amalia."

They nod and look at each other. Alec steps forward and walks over to where Amalia is located. He is in front of her, standing just a couple of inches above her. He extends his hands and she takes them.

I can see a surprise look on Alec's face, but he quickly composes himself.

"Now, Alec, start using your ability and show Amalia how it works." The fog that is characteristic of his ability starts to spread slowly around the throne room. I let him move it towards where Amalia is located, enveloping her, knowing that at this point she is not able to feel anything.

"Good, Alec. You can let go." The fog pulls back. Amalia´s face is frightened. She did not enjoyed being sense deprived, but let us see the outcome.

"Amalia, do you think you can reproduce Alec´s ability?" She turns and looks at me. I get the feeling she looks weaker than normal, but she stands up high and nods towards me.

"Felix, please ask Romeo to help us out." Felix nods and he soon returns with Romeo, the male human that wants to be turned into one of us. He has been a faithful servant for many years, but there is nothing valuable about him. We might as well use him as a test subject before killing him.

"Amalia, show me what you learned." I point towards Romeo's questioning face, but he knows better than to speak up.

"Yes Sir." She turns and focus her eyes on Romeo. I am expecting to see the characteristic fog surrounding Romeo, but nothing. Oh well, seems that she might do with the mind reading. She can accompany Alec and Jane in expeditions and look for new talents or pull the story from someone like….

"What have you done?" Romeo's hands are in front of him. His look is completely lost, his head moving from side to side.

"Can you hear us Romeo?" I speak up, hoping that he can´t hear me.

"Yes, Master." his head turns towards where I am. "Where are you?"

Amalia´s hands are up, pointing to where Romeo is moving desperately. Her face changes and Romeo is able to focus his eyes to where I am.

"What happened, Romeo?" Caius is sitting on the edge of his chair. It seems that he is finally able to see what I saw in Amalia.

Romeo doesn´t answer.

"He can´t hear you." I recognize Amalia's voice. "I just removed that sense from him."

I look at Alec and then at Amalia.

"And before that I removed his sense of sight."

"Try another sense now." I am now sitting at the edge of my chair as well.

We try all the senses and see the effects. By the look of it, she is able to mimic Alec's ability to a certain extent, as any copy; she is not as good as the original, but that is something we can work with.

Caius looks at me; his face is full of disbelief. I look at Marcus and I see a small glimpse of amusement. It has been a long time since that happened.

"Jane, darling, you are next." She smiles and approaches Amalia, extending her hand. Amalia grabs it, this time without the same security as she touched Corin or Alec. Again, surprise spreads across the faces of Jane and Amalia

"Now, Jane, show Amalia your ability." Her smile widens, her eyes focus on Amalia and the screams from Amalia start echoing in the throne room, she falls to the floor and starts convulsing.

"Jane, now please stop." She lingers longer than she should.

"She needs to learn, Master." Her eyes are focused. She enjoys torturing her.

"Jane." I put a warning in my tone that makes her release Amalia´s hand.

Amalia starts composing herself after a short while. She is finally able to stand up, her face looking drained, her legs barely holding her. Strange.

"Let´s test it." I look at Romeo. His face is white a close shade to one of us, but he is still bravely standing. Amalia turns and looks at Romeo. She once again extends her hands.

I am aware, in a split second, that she is able to reproduce the ability. A pain so unbearable starts flowing through my body. A burning that spreads to my extremities and moves its way to the center of my torso causes me to fall to the floor, convulsing in pain. I am screaming my head off, begging her to stop.

The pain ends as quickly as it started. Is she trying to outsmart me?

I stand up, furious at her. As I start look around the throne room I see every single member that is in there on the floor as well. A look of terror is in Amalia eyes.

"What just happened?" Caius is furious and he is starting down the stairs towards where Amalia is.

"I am sorry, I didn´t know that would happen!" Amalia starts backing away when she sees Caius coming towards her, but she is too slow and Caius already has a hold of her neck.

"Brother, I believe that she did what we asked her to do." This makes Caius stop and look at me. "She learned Jane´s ability. It seems that it affects more than just one." This is rather interesting. It is not as incapacitating as Jane´s, but this is something that I can use. I can picture her, a battlefield full of vampires ready to attack us. Amalia alone on the other side, with a dark cloak indicating she is one of the Volturi, looking so fragile and innocent, not raising a single suspicion on the enemy. She lifts her hands, bringing all the members from the other side down and taking them by surprise.

Interesting. VERY Interesting.

Amalia is looking at her hands, her face is full of horror. She can´t believe of what she is capable. Jane, on the other hand, is glaring at her. She is not happy that Amalia could reproduce her ability.

Her stance is not as it used to be. She is slouching and I can see some trembling in her extremities, as if she is weak. Her eyes are pitch black and the look lost. It seems that her learning is taking its toll on her.

"Amalia, are you thirsty?" She turns, looks at me, and nods.

"Go ahead." I move my head towards Romeo. Romeo looks at me, his face full of disbelief.

She goes nears him, she is short compared to him. She grabs his hand and starts moving it to her mouth but stops. The surprise look on her face once again, together with Romeo´s. She drops his hand and starts backing away, her breathing coming hard and desperate.

"What is wrong my dear?" She stops when she hears my voice, breaking the spell over her.

"I can´t." She stops and looks at me.

"What do you mean you can´t?" I stare at her.

"How can I feed from someone that I know so well? Knowing what he is leaving behind and what he is currently feeling." Is she joking. I can´t help but laugh with the rest of the vampires that are gathered in the throne room. However, her face is serious.

"You get over it. Just avoid touching his hand." Such an easy solution to a problem. I know I did.

She shakes her head. This is something we need to work on then. I´ll give her some time to think and compose herself, I am sure she will feel different once Heidi arrives with the new group and she is in here with all of us.

"Class dismissed. Felix take care of Romeo."

…

Where could Amalia have gone? It has been two hours since they reported her missing. It never takes this long, at least not when Demitri is involved. She couldn´t have gone far, not with her speed.

"Master?" My thoughts are interrupted. My hopes are raised when I hear Demitri´s voice coming thru the door of the throne room. I look up and see him approaching us. My hopes fall when I don´t see her with him. I can only see the rest of the guards that where assigned to catch her and bring her back entering the room as well.

"Yes, Demitri?" He eyes the room as if he is looking for somebody. His eyes stop on me and it seems that he is trying to look behind me. "What is wrong?"

"We might have a situation on our hands." His voice is dubious. He clears his throat. "I´ve been trying to track her. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find her."

This has never occurred in the past. No matter who we are looking for, Demitri can always track them.

"Show me." He approaches and extends his hand.

This is something that I had not foreseen. While Amalia was learning the abilities, it seems that she also acquired part of the tenor of the mind of others. Demitri already ended up in the castle tower with Corin, then in the quarters of Alec and Jane, and now here with me.

I release his hand and look at him. His face is fearful. I need to calm him down.

"It seems that this is an unexpected side effect, Demitri." I turn and look at Caius, his eyes questioning me. "We might need to track her the old fashioned way."

I turn to Michael, a sergeant from our guard that is in the group. He is the closest thing to a tracker that our coven has. He relies on his senses to track someone, unlike Demitri who follows the tenor of a mind.

"Michael, bring Amalia back." He smiles widely at me. He is happy to comply with my wishes.

"Yes, Master." With a small reverse, he leaves the room.

…..

I continue with the next memory that I appear.

…..

"Amalia, Amalia." Her look is full of defiance towards me, but I decide to ignore her. "You scared us." Her eyes are no longer black; they are now a honey golden color. It reminds me of our friend Carlisle; a clear indication that she fed on animal blood. "If you are not fond of what Heidi brought us, just let us know your human preference and we will most likely oblige"

"I won´t do it, Aro." Her look is locked with mine. "I won´t drink any more human blood."

"My dear, it is better you drink human blood so that you can regain your full strength." She doesn´t flinch. There is resolve in her eyes.

"As I said, I won´t drink human blood." I turn and look at Caius, he motions for Felix to bring a human whose smell is very appealing.

A young man comes in and stops when he is next to Amalia.

"Everyone leave us." Felix, Jane, and Alec leave the room. I turn and look at Marcus and Caius. "You too brothers." I see reluctance in Caius eyes, but he obeys me, followed by Marcus.

In the throne room, there is only Amalia, the young man, and myself. I go to where Amalia is standing.

"My dear, please wear this." I pull out a pair of black gloves. If she doesn´t want to drink this human blood because of what she can see in his life, we will break the contact she can get by touching his hands. She looks down and doesn´t take them.

"Amalia, don´t disappoint me. This is going to help you." She looks down once again, takes them, and puts them on. She looks at her hands assessing how they look, she eyes me suspiciously but I continue as if nothing happened.

"Now, Amalia, you will feed." I pull the small knife that I have on my belt, I hold my breath and cut a big gash on the young man cheek. The idea is for her to feed on him, not me.

The young man's hand goes immediately to his cheek and comes down full of blood. He starts screaming and tries to run away. I block his way, making him go backwards, towards where Amalia is.

Her stand is tense, but she stays put. She looks at me defiantly, not flinching a bit. It seems that I am not the only one holding my breath. I take a hold of the young man's arm and put him in front of her, but she still stays put. I need her to inhale his scent.

I let go of the young man and go to where Amalia is. I get a hold of her hand and squeeze it hard. She screams in pains and looks towards me. I can see her chest going up and down, a clear sign that she is breathing. I release her hand and see her walking towards the young man. Good

"You should leave." Her voice is strained, but she is keeping control of her instinct.

The young man starts backing away, but I intercept him.

"I won´t drink human blood." She backs away.

"You…" The scent from his blood hits me and I can´t hold back.

After I am done with the young man I look up at Amalia. Her face is not revealing much, except for her eyes, there is pain in them, but she keeps still. I drop the body, and there is a loud clank when his head hits the floor.

"Maybe you will feel different after I introduce you to Chelsea." My tone, amicable as always. Her eyes light up and I can see fury on them, but she smiles towards me.

"I don´t think that I will be too happy about meeting Chelsea. I rather you didn´t." Her tone mimics mine. "Remember I´ve been in your mind. If I see Chelsea near me, I am certain some items that Marcus and Caius won´t feel too happy about will be revealed to them."

Is she threating me? Does she even know whom she is messing with?

She starts to leave the throne room.

"Amalia, there are certain vampires in this world you don´t want to mess with. Me being one of them." She stops walking and turns to look at me.

"You seem to forget that I already made my way up to that list, thanks to you." She turns her back towards me. How dare she!

"You don´t stand a chance against me!" I start running towards her. She turns, her gloves no longer in place. She has her hands up and I can´t move. She has removed my sense of balance and equilibrium. I fall to the floor, unable to stand up.

"It looks that in this state I could easily kill you, Aro. Especially now." She starts circling me, looking down at the floor. " I don´t like what you turned me into, it has come at a very high price."

She bends down and whispers in my ear.

"You should know that I don´t have any intention on continuing with the lessons or using any of these abilities to aid you. If anything, I am just to protect myself." I can see her backing away slowly, still using her ability. "So don´t come looking for me."

I start laughing, which actually makes her stop at the door.

"You will do as I tell you or I will go and bring Luca here." I know that she is fond of him and she will do anything to protect him.

"Luca? "Her face is completely lost. "I don´t know what you are talking about."

"You know your coven…" She closes her eyes and starts shaking her head. She lowers her hands and I feel that I am able to stand up. I take advantage of this opportunity and grab a hold of her hand. I go through her mind.

She is right. It was a very high price. This can be fixed, it is just a matter of time and maybe a little bit of torture.

….

I skip to the next memory.

…..

Exile seems like a good idea; not death as Jane proposed. Too much waste of a good talent. After Jane and Alec work with her, she won´t be able to remember. It seems that torture is a good way to erase her memory. Three days should do, just to be safe.

Now the next step would be to get a fresh start, let her get use to the world, understand the importance of being a vampire and of our mission. Once she is aware of that, she will be happy to join us.

However, I can´t release her as she is. She is too dangerous with all those abilities on her. Hmmmm. If the power flows through her hands as mine does, easy, let's take them from her. But she will be too incapacitated, she already is. She will need somebody to protect her and guard her.

"Master, you called for me?" I turn and see the sergeant.

"Yes, I have a new mission. Neither Caius nor Marcus are aware of it this time." It is better if they think that she died, in case this doesn´t work.

He nods understanding the importance and secrecy of the mission.

"I need your help to select the right soldier for it." His interest spikes.

"Understood, Master."

"I am looking for a soldier that excels in speed and force. He needs to be faithful to our cause and who likes to follow rules." I look at him waiting for an answer.

"Master, I am sorry, you just described all the soldiers, any of them will do." His face is fearful. He is right I start laughing aloud.

"How about one that we can spare." His face lights up.

"Alton just returned with William from the expedition in Siberia. Neither has been assigned to a new position or mission and considering how long they were out, we can spare either one of them."

Alton? NO! He won´t do. I want her to be on our side, not against us. Plus Caius won´t spare him anymore, he will question what I want him for. However, William could work.

"Alton won´t do. He is one of Caius favorites, and he won't allow it. William will do." Considering how distracting he has been in the past for Heidi, it is better to keep him far away. Huh? Seems that I´ll take care of two problems at the same time! "Ask him to meet me at the usual place tonight at midnight. That will be all."

"Yes, Master." He salutes and leaves the room.

He is a good candidate and complies with the characteristics. Just to make sure, I´ll ask Chelsea to create a bond so strong that even time and distance won´t dissolve. Amalia will be my ace under the sleeve in case something goes wrong.

….

I am back in reality, the clock in the panel of the car is indicating it is the middle of the night. I look at William and although he is driving, he is not paying that much attention to the road. The speed is higher than what the limit is.

"William." I try to get him back to reality, but he is very far off. "William," I say again, louder this time.

"Sorry, Maya." He snaps back to reality. "Did you say something?"

"I was wondering," this thought just came to my mind, "once we have the package, what are we going to do?"

His face was again thoughtful. There was a struggle going on in his mind.

"I was thinking about it. I don´t know if you are going to like it, since you like to stay put in one area. You saw how fast they were able to find us, they have probably been tracking us a while and saw a pattern, or they were waiting for Aro to arrive. So the only solution I have come up with is being on the run constantly, never stopping." He is looks at the road, never meeting my eyes.

"Do you think that might work?"

"Honestly?" He finally looks at me and there is disappointment in his eyes. "I don´t know. It is a long shot, but we need to move and constantly change cars. We will move by train, bus, airplane… whatever it takes."

I understand perfectly what his mind is going through. We need a miracle to pull this one off.

"What about Demitri?" I am not aware of what I say until the words actually leave my mouth.

The car suddenly comes to complete stop, I hear the tires screech on the pavement and the smell of burnt rubber fills the air. I pull my arms in front of me to stop me from hitting the dashboard, leaving a clear mark of my hand on it.

I am waiting for the car behind us to hit us but that doesn´t happen. Good thing it is the middle of the night; however, the few cars that are on the interstate are starting to honk at us.

I look back at William. He is looking back at me, his eyes full of surprise, his mouth hanging open, I start looking around expecting the Volturi to surround the car, but again there is nothing around us. I look back at William, and his face is a little bit more composed.

"How do you know about Demitri?" are the only words that leave his mouth before he starts to drive again.

William, not paying a lot of attention to the road, is still looking at me waiting for an answer, but I am too nervous to answer him. Isn´t it enough that he saw me torture him and the Volturi back in the cabin, now he will think I am a nutcase. I stop looking at his face and face towards the road.

"Maya, can you please tell me what you know about Demitri?" This time his voice has a much sweeter tone.

I am still reluctant to tell him. I don´t want to lose him. I already know I am a monster. I should have kept my mouth shut.

"Maya, I am waiting." He is still looking at me. "We don´t have a lot of time."

"Fine." My tone is sour. He might as well know what kind of monster he is dealing with. "I saw it through Aro´s mind."

He keeps quiet for a while, processing the information that I just presented. I could have sworn I just saw him say something like so it's true.

"What else do you know about the Volturi? Aside from what I have told you."

I give a small sigh and close my eyes.

"Pretty much everything there is to know about them."

He keeps quiet for a while pondering what I just told him.

"So you know he can track us no matter where in the world we are."

"Well, he can track you," I whisper, instantly realizing too late that I said it aloud. I turn, hoping he didn´t hear that part, but sure enough, he did. He quickly turns his head towards me and he tightens the grip in the steering wheel. He is probably mad.

"Maya, how can Demitri, not track your mind?"

Damn, I should have known better than to open my mouth again. I am probably going to get the full questioning. I wonder if I can plead the Fifth?

"Do I have to pull all the answers out of you, or will you cooperate and make this ordeal a lot easier for both of us?" I am dubious to tell him. "Remember, we are on the same team now." Somehow, this last part makes me feel happy, considering the circumstances. I look back at his face, but he is still all business.

"Because of my special ability." I feel ashamed; disability would be a much better word to describe what I can do. "Look, I know this is going to sound a little bit weird, but this is what I saw in Aro´s mind." I inhale and exhale to gain my courage. "My ability is to learn and mimic, up to some extent, others abilities. When I first met Aro, a while ago, I learned how to mimic his ability, to a certain extent. He did some experiments to see what I could or couldn´t mimic, but that came with a certain price, having too many mind abilities kind of confuses my mind, making it impossible for Demetri to find me."

He keeps quiet and pulls the car to the curb.

"Get out," he says matter of factly.

"Excuse me?"

"Maya, if he can´t track your mind that means you can be safe, go anywhere you want. As long as you keep a low profile, you will be just fine." He looks at me, his eyes full of tenderness.

"I don´t think so." I strap my seatbelt just to make him clear I am not planning on leaving this car, or leaving him.

"Fine, then I´ll leave." He unbuckles his seatbelt and starts opening his door.

"Fine, then I´ll follow you." I say this before he starts running. I unbuckle my seatbelt and open my door.

"Maya, please don´t be stubborn, you don´t need me anymore." He looks down at my covered hands. "You have a great opportunity ahead, don´t waste it. I am a dead man walking." He looks back at me. "Besides, you won´t be able to catch me," he says with a smug tone.

He actually has a point with this; my physical weakness is an actual problem I did not foresee in this discussion.

"Then I´ll go to Volterra and hand myself over to the Volturi and negotiate that they don´t kill you." He laughs a little but there is no actual joy in it.

"Maya, you don´t negotiate with the Volturi. That is known fact."

"All I know is that I am a hot item on the market right now. If there is a way I can get them to spare your life, I am going to try. Besides, I thought you just told me we were on the same team now and you don´t leave one of your team members behind." I need to make him understand he is THAT important in my life.

His eyes are looking back at me. I hold his stare even if that is the last thing we do. After a while, he finally closes his car door. I do the same.

"Fine, Maya, if you plan on getting yourself killed that is fine by me, my conscious is clear. It is your choice." He puts the car in drive and we get back on the road.

"Fine, it's my choice, and I say we are staying together." I am still mad, but glad that he decided to stay with me.

The car is back on the road, but we are silent for a long time; William finally decided to spare me the silent treatment, curiosity getting the best of him.

"So, was Aro able to read your mind?" His tone indicates he is still mad at me. "Because if he was, he will be waiting for us wherever you hid the package"

"No, he was not able to read it."

"How come?"

"I am not sure, I think it is kind of like a tag contest. Somehow, when I touched his hand he wasn´t expecting it, so my ability overruled his, providing me a look into his mind and of his plans without him being able to read mine."

"Interesting." He keeps quiet and rummages through this new piece of information. "So you actually know why Aro wants you in the Guard?"

"What I´ve been able to see is that he thinks of me like kind of a massive destruction weapon. The more abilities I learn, the more powerful the Volturi become." I concentrate again on his thoughts. "He thought without a doubt in his mind that I would accept his request, tempting me with my hands." I look at my hands, moving my fingers, a smile playing on my face.

"After he read your mind he saw that I didn´t remember who I was or what I could do." I look back at him. "The greatest irony is, I never figured it through you, but through him. So you complied with your orders soldier." I smile at him and he makes a face at me, but I know he is silently laughing. "But my question is, what exactly did you know about me?"

He gives a small sight.

"I knew you were an important member with the Volturi, right up there with Jane and Alec." He puts his hand above his head indicating a very high position. "There were rumors of what you could do, but I thought they were over the top. Somehow, you managed to get yourself in trouble and Aro decided to punish you. I don´t know why I was chosen to guard you and keep you safe, but as you know now, I was never to reveal anything to you." He looks back at me. "That is pretty much what I knew about you."

"Not that much, huh?"

"I assumed some of your ability had to be related to your hands, since he took them off, but I was not quite sure about that." He shrugs his shoulders.

Time passes and neither William nor I say anything. I know there is a lot on his mind.

"Maya, if we are going to stay together, we need to make sure we play this smart and try to outplay them."

I nod not knowing what to answer back.

"So, is there a place that even if Demetri knows where I am, Aro won´t send anybody to get us?"

I close my eyes and start focusing once again on the images that are embed in my brain. After a little while I look back at William.

"There are actually two places." This gives William a little hope. "The first one is with the Romanian coven." William's heads start shaking.

"Maya, that is no longer an option; maybe centuries ago, but not anymore. Plus, it is close to Volterra. Aro might be tempted to send some guards before we reach it."

"Okay, then the other is with the Cullen's coven." His face is pensive for a while.

"Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Because we met two of the coven some years ago. Remember Rosalie and Emmett?" He looks back at me, understanding setting in.

"They are still alive?" His voice is full of surprise.

"Seems that they were telling the truth. Plus, their coven is powerful," I say, seeing in Aro´s memory the different members.

"Well, that might be a better option. If I recall correctly, they live here in the States, right?" I give him a small nod.

"But do you think they might help us, since we didn´t help them?" I say feeling guilty. I knew they were right somehow, but I now understand why William didn´t want us to go and help them. We would have been so close to the Volturi and probably make things worse for them. "This will mean putting their family at risk with the Volturi again?"

"It is a long shot, Maya, but maybe we can get close enough that Demitri can sense that we are near but Aro will not send his guard to kill us. We need to stay far away from the Cullen's so they don´t even know we are there."

That at least was a better plan than what we had been discussing.

"Okay, so we drive there after we get the package?"

He thinks this over for a little while.

"Nope, I think it is better if we go straight to them. It will reduce the chance of the Volturi tracking us down."

Somehow, this did sound like a smarter plan.

"So, Maya. Where to?"

"Forks, Washington, William." He inputs the information in the GPS, and makes a U-turn as it indicates.

"And Maya?" I look back at him, somehow the tension that was between us is lessening and I can see a little hope in his eyes. "Keep thinking why Aro wants you back after all these years and what his next step would be."

I nod and start concentrating on his thoughts again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much to Boo Boys and Mesmerizeme for helping me Beta this document. I hope you like it.
> 
> Next update will be in two weeks.
> 
> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended


	12. Chapter 12 The Cullens

Thank you very much to Boo Boys from Beta Babes and Grammar Gropers for helping me Beta this document. 

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 12.- The Cullens.

MAYA POV

We are close to Forks, so we decided to leave the car behind and walk near the forest and its surroundings. The closer we get to the Forks territory the safer we start to feel, but not completely. We still need a plan to stay low key so the Cullens aren't aware of our presence. It involves knowing the surroundings and the exact location of where they live.

I was able to give William a small heads up of what to expect regarding the family and the abilities they have. We understand why the Volturi would think twice about coming near here; too many talents in one single coven.

The more we explore the area the more I like. It. is a nice place, surrounded by forest and mountains; giving us a better chance to hunt animals. The weather is something that helps; it seems to be cloudy and rainy all year long. It's something to consider for the future when we decide where to house sit … well that is if we can make it alive out of this mess.

As we walk deeper into the woods analyzing our surroundings, I make mental notes of interesting areas where we can stay and keep hidden—for who knows how long. It's not a very encouraging thought, but it beats the hell out of thinking of a world without William.

William is walking ahead of me with caution, being as quiet as he can in case we stumble upon their house unintentionally, but before we can even start discussing anything a strange scent fills the air; the smell is hideous. I wrinkle my nose and decide to hold my breath, looking at William; he has a similar look on his face. It's not comforting at all.

I take another step when there is a loud growl in front of us; the mere sound of it sends a cold sensation through my spine. The smell grows stronger; whatever it corresponds to, is approaching us, fast. I look at William, he pulls me behind him in a protective stance, his lips stretching back as he returns the growl.

"Maya, don´t move," he says quietly.

I look up, right in front of us is a big wolf, and by big I mean probably tall as William. I have never seen anything like it before. I feel like a tiny little mouse compared to it.

The wolf has a reddish fur, and starts walking slowly towards us. The stench becomes overpowering, affecting my feelings and thoughts. I am almost tempted to use the power I learned from Alec and suppress my sense of smell to think more coherently, but I don´t dare to move.

A second growl comes from behind us, and I don´t need to look to know what it is, but I still dare to do it. A couple of feet away is another wolf, a little smaller than the first one, but still big enough for me. It has a russet coat on its skin.

I start to pull back my gloves so slowly, hoping the wolf doesn´t perceive my movement; its growling only gets louder, making me certain that it noticed.

The stench, the growl and the image of the wolves bring a memory that is not mine; a group of vampires is flanked by this strange kind of specie, and not just any group; the Cullen's. The wolves; although Aro refers to them as shape shifters.

"We are looking for the Cullens," I dare to speak up. If they were working together, hopefully they are still their allies and spare our lives.

The growling lowers, the reddish wolf starts looking at us. It seems that our plan of passing unnoticed is no longer going to work.

The wind picks up and brings a new scent; one of our kind.

"Jake, please let them explain." A female voice comes through.

I am not able to see her because of the beast blocking my view.

The reddish wolf nods?

How can he understand? 

The growling from both wolves stop, and they back away a couple of paces.

From between the trees, a female vampire steps out. She has long brown hair pulled into a ponytail, and her skin is pale like ours. Her built is slim and not very tall. She is dressed in a simple white V-neck t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. The simplicity of her clothes diverts my attention to her face to appreciate the beauty that she is. Her expression is showing concern, and her hands are up, reminding me of my own stance when I am defending myself from the Volturi.

I have seen this vampire, although her eyes are different from memory; they used to be red, but now they are butterscotch as ours would be if we had already fed. I know her name is Bella and she is a shield. I relax, but William is still in a crouch

Right next to her is another vampire, dressed in khaki pants and a cotton white shirt. He is very handsome with copper hair—rare color among humans, but nevertheless beautiful. It brings out the white complexion of his skin and the butterscotch color of his eyes—that don't leave William's. I know he is Edward and can read minds.

"William, I have seen them; they are part of the Cullens."

William gets up from his crouching position, probably curious, though he still puts himself in front to protect me.

"Oh come on, guys, Maya is not going to attack you." A flirty voice comes from above the trees, standing on a branch.

I look up; there is a small vampire with a pixie cut, her hair sticking everyway in a very fashionable style; she has a beautiful, singsong voice. Her clothes are modern, wearing pants with a flower pattern on them, using different pastel colors. Her blouse is see-through, and underneath is she is wearing a cami, revealing how thin she is.

She jumps down and lands gracefully on the ground, and judging from my current position, she's a few inches shorter than I am. I know that her name is Alice and she is a seer—as Aro refers to her.

A vampire quickly joins her side; his looks are gorgeous. His clothes are modern like I´ve seen magazines. He has fair hair and skin, not to mention the color of his eyes. I to notice bite marks on different parts of his body; his scars are very similar to the one that William now has on his shoulder.

Based on Aro´s memories, I know that he is Jasper, he can control emotions, and he is Alice´s mate.

"Are you sure, Alice?" Another voice comes from behind me, and I remember it.

I look back, startled from the sound, and see the most beautiful women that I have ever seen. We´ve met her before.

Rosalie.

Her long blond hair flows down to her back, a contrast against her red dress. Her face still nervous, but she recognizes us.

Next to her is her mate, Emmet, the big guy. He is as tall as William, and more muscular. The sleeves of his grey t-Shirt stretch as much as it can to cover those biceps; I wouldn´t like to be punch by him. I feel a little more relaxed when I see his fighting stand retract before he smiles at us in recognition.

"Want to bet?" Alice answer back, walking towards us. "Hi my name is Alice, although you already know that, Maya. Nice to make your acquaintance. What took you so long?"

William looks at Alice and then back at me; his face is full of questions.

"We are sorry to disturb you; it was never our intention to bother you," I say in a nervous voice.

"I think it would be better if we go back to the house and hear the full explanation, Alice. We're out in the open. Care to join us?" Edward says with an easy tone, but he still looks worried. "It would be a lot safer."

Safer sounds to me better.

"Sure," William answers.

I turn and look at him; he shrugs his shoulders as if thinking, it's not as if we have much of a choice.

We follow Emmet and Rosalie, with Alice close by, walking next to Bella and putting her arm around her.

I don´t realize at what point the wolves disappeared; it surprises me—considering the size and stench is not something that you can easily miss. I was probably too nervous as I analyzed everybody.

We go through a different part of the woods; everybody is silent. I can still feel the tension that is coming from William as well as from the rest of the group; except for Alice.

After a little while, we pass a small cottage and nearby is a river. I stop. It's not a big jump for a regular vampire, but I am not sure if I am can make it. Rosalie and Emmet jump it so easily before they start walking towards the house, but stop when they realize we have stopped. There is a questioning look on everybody's faces. I look up at William; I don´t want to seem like a coward and ask for his help, but I also don´t want to end up getting wet.

I know William doesn´t want to show weakness, so I start walking backwards, figuring that I need some speed to cross it.

"No, Maya, you don´t want to do that. You´ll get all soaked." I hear Alice's voice coming from behind me.

A male laughs from the other side of the lake, followed by an "ouch". It was definitely Emmett´s voice.

I feel so powerless.

"William, she could use your help," Edward says in a friendly tone.

I am so ashamed; it is one thing know your limitations, but it's another to get them slapped back in your face in front of strangers.

Without another word, William picks me up in his arms and jumps the lake effortlessly.

Damn it!

As soon as we're on the other side, he gently puts me back on the ground. The others jump as easily as William did.

"It is usually not this wide, but it's been a very cold winter, and there is still a lot of defrosting in the mountains," Bella tries to explain—or comfort—me.

It's as if she somehow understands my pain, but still, I feel completely and utterly embarrassed.

We continue walking until we reach a big, beautiful house.. It's three stories high, painted in white, while the side facing us has a crystal pane. The front porch welcomes us as we go through the main entrance. There are windows all along the side but I am not able to see much; everybody's moving at a quick pace.

The front door opens, and there standing ready to greet us are two more vampires. The first one is a male, and the kindness of his smile extents to his amber colored eyes. He is blond and looks older than the rest of the group, but not by much. He is dressed in a more conservative way. I know his name is Carlisle; he is the head of the Cullen coven.

Standing next to him, grabbing one of his hands, is his wife, Esme. Her dark hair reaches her chin, while her figure a little rounder than the rest of her coven. As her mate, she is also dressed more conservatively, but modern. Her eyes set on mine; they light up together with a beautiful smile, showing a perfect set of teeth. Somehow, the way she looks at us gives me the impression that two of her lost children are back.

"Welcome to our house," Carlisle is the one that speaks up, and extents his hand towards William. He takes it and shakes it, confusion showing in his face. "Please, come in." He moves to one side letting us in, together with the rest of the family.

The stench we smelled at the woods is back, entering the house together with the rest of the family. I turn and notice a group of tall men, who are literally making themselves at home. They are wearing shorts, no shirt, and sneakers with no socks.I can clearly hear the thumping of their hearts.

What kind of family is this? What is going on here?

In one corner of the house is a teenager; she is beautiful, and her skin is white like ours, but her eyes are a beautiful chocolate color. I can hear her heart beat as fast as a little humming bird.

So this is the famous Baby, Renesmee

I see a flash from Aro's mind; she is much younger, around 5 years. She has grown a lot, considering it was only 6 years ago when we met Rosalie and Emmet.

Is that even possible?

"Hello, my name is Carlisle, and this is my wife Esme." His posture is not indicating any disturbance; his face is kind and he is actually smiling at us.

I immediately analyze my surroundings—just in case. At this point anything can happen. The house inside is gorgeous.

"Looks like you'vealready met Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper, Alice, Edward and Bella"—with every name each one raises their hand—"but you probably don´t recognize Jacob and Seth." The tall stinky men raise their hand indicating who is who. "The young one in the corner is Nessie."

"Nice to meet your acquaintance. this is Maya and I am William." I start to raise my hand to say hi, but I am so confused.

What is going on in here?

"So, I understand from Alice that you are in a little trouble with the Volturi," Carlisle continues speaking with a friendly Tone.

William is as startled and speechless as I am; why are they behaving so nice to us? We are running away from the Volturi, and we're certain that they are looking for us. Our decision to come to Forks has only increased the possibility of the Volturi coming here.

How can they welcome us into their house? If it were I in their shoes, I would probably capture me and send me straight to the Volturi. One thing is for sure, I did not foresee this outcome-unless it is their actual plan. Aro sees them as a threat, which only increases my confusion.

"Well, Maya, he sees us a threat because he thinks of us as a powerful coven," Edward answers my thoughts as if I spoke my words aloud. "And he can´t quiet explain why such a large number can live amicablely without needing the help of Corin."

"But why are you helping us?" I am startled to see that he can actually read minds. It's one thing to see it in Aro's memory, but up front is another.

"Because you are not alone, Maya. You are only a player in his plan," Edward says. I turn and look at William; he's as confused as I am. "Six year ago we had a confrontation with them, which we parted in rather amicable terms. But we knew it wasn´t going to stop there. We have been waiting for Aro to make his move. He decided two weeks ago to start with it; you being the first part of his plan." Edward is looking intently at me. "We know you refused his proposal, which indicates to us that you're not with them."

"How did you know about Aro visiting us, and Maya refusing his proposal?" William asks startled.

"Alice saw it," Bella answers, as she turns and looks at Alice, smiling at her.

"So if you knew we were not coming here to attack you, why the welcoming party?" says William, gesturing to the rest of the group.

"That was actually a precaution," Jasper says. "We saw that Demetri is tracking you with Alec. Plus we didn´t know what exactly you knew about us or the Quilette, and as we saw, they did surprise you a little bit."

"A little bit is an understatement," says William.

The tall man behind us laughs, as what I can only assume is, two hands slap together in a high five.

So they are the shape shifters.

"We didn´t mean to come so near. We were looking for a place where the Volturi wouldn´t find us, but we were not sure how you would receive us considering our lack of support when you asked for it." William explains, looking back at Rosalie and Emmett, remembering that time.

I know they weren´t lying, but then again William was right.

"You did the right call back then, William. It was probably for the best that you skipped your support, and we appreciate your true feelings," says Edward, probably hearing the thought from both our minds.

There were a lot of questioning faces looking back and forward from Edward to William—except for Alice.

"Maya and William had a previous round with the Volturi. Aro kept Maya a prisoner." William cringes at this last part, and luckily, Edward does not reveal that William was the guard in charge at the time. "If Aro saw her in the field with us, it probably would have meant more trouble for all," Edward explains.

Rosalie's face stays as cold as ever. It seems it's going to be hard to convince her, that by staying away, we helped them more.

"So, Maya, what exactly is your special ability that makes you so appealing for Aro?" Bella asks looking at me with questioning eyes and thank God, she changes the subject.

Many things are going through my mind; how to explain it without freaking them out? It is a lot to take in, or at least, it has been for me.

"Maya, you won´t freak us out." Edward's face is kind. "Believe me, that won't be the case. This is a freak house; we have a seer, a shield; one that controls emotions; me that can read minds; we're friends with the shape shifters; and we have Nessie, who can show you her thoughts. I think we can take it."

I see some relief in William.

"That is becoming annoying, you know." I look back at him.

"We know," says the group in unison.

"The only one that gets away with it is Bella," Emmet says while laughing and eyeing her.

I sigh and brace myself for what might happen. "Okay, my special ability is to learn and mimic other vampire's abilities. But just like any replica, it's never quite identical as the original." They don't appear to fully understand. "For example, like Edward, I could learn how to read minds up to a certain extent. Probably I could only hear one at a time or have a smaller range of distant to hear it. Nobody knows how it's going to turn out until I try it, and it always comes with a price."

"So at this precise moment you could, for example, learn how to read minds?" Jasper's voice is dubious, his face quickly changing from friendly to guarded, probably wondering how much I am learning as we speak.

"Not exactly. There needs to be skin to skin contact with my hand while the vampire is using the ability." I bring my hands up and show them how they are gloved, indicating that there is no danger of that happening. "That way I know what goes through their mind at that specific moment. It also helps if I am the one the ability is being applied to. This way I can understand the effect it has on the others. As you can see it's quite simple." The way everyone is looking at me, it obviously isn't.

"Why would you need to touch the vampire?" asks Carlisle, curious.

"Because it is like Aro's ability. He can only see thoughts and memories by touching somebody. It was the first ability I was able to mimic and learn, but that was an accident." I try to explain as best as I can, I don´t want them to think that I was willingly helping the Volturi.

"So what abilities have you been able to learn?" Emmett asks, a big smile in his face, and by the looks of it, he's a positive kind of guy.

"Only three." Everybody is expectant, even William, he at least knows of two. "I can replicate Aro, but not in the same way as he can. I can learn about other people's thoughts and feelings, but he can process it a lot faster. Let's say he is like a computer processing the info, I have to look for a specific information in order to access it. It's like I'm a library; it takes longer but the memory is there. Also, I can´t read other people's thoughts that he has read. For example, I know he has read Edward's mind at least twice, but I don´t know what he saw in it." Thank God, the look in Edwards face is expressing my same thoughts. "But I know the impression he got from it. The other ability is Alec's up to certain extent," I continue, everybody looks on expectantly. " I can remove only one sense at the time, but I get to choose which sense it is." I make a small pause, preparing to reveal the one that I think is the worse of the three. "And then there is Jane." I can still see the memory of how I learned this ability. I am certain that her interpretation of teaching me a lesson was not the same that Aro had. "I can put the image of pain in somebody's mind just like her; however mine is not as incapacitating as hers, or so I´ve been told." I glance back at William; he knows firsthand about it. He indicates for me to continue. "She can do it only one person at a time; I affect a whole crowd."

"Sweet!" Emmett says, his smile broadening.

"Not necessarily. I can´t separate the innocent from the bad." I look at William and mouth, I am so sorry. He smiles at me and gives me a small encouraging nod.

"So has Aro tried to teach you anymore powers?" Carlisle asks ignoring Emmett's comment.

"He tried Corin, but I was not able to replicate it."

"So it may be limited to mental abilities," Edwards says more to himself than to the crowd.

"Or at least we can eliminate the physical abilities," Bella says.

I give her a small nod.

"So what you are saying is that you are a super weapon that comes in a portable traveling size?" one of the shape shifters says, who I believe is Jacob.

William looks at him in a not friendly way.

"That's one way you could put it." I laugh a little at, finding it funny how I can be simplified in such a small sentence.

"It's a theory, but I think he has kept Maya alive all this time just in case something happened to his precious Alec or Jane, and she would be her spare part," adds Williams, his tone serious.

"And think of the possibilities of the power he can acquire if he meets more vampires with abilities that Maya can mimic. He wouldn´t need to force them to join the Volturi if she can replicate them," Bella says, looking lost in thoughts. "Or even need them alive…"

That left us thinking.

"Do we know what his next move will be?" Carlisle asks looking at Alice and shortly turning towards me.

"I don´t see him making any decision yet. Word has not reach him that William and Maya made it to Forks." Her voice is certain.

During the car ride, I kept going through Aro´s memories pondering the different possibilities if he knew William and I were in Forks. The first thing that came to mind was a name and a face. I could see how his ability to detect other potential abilities even in humans could be useful for him right now. Even if I had accepted, that seems the next logical step.

"Does the name Eleazar ring a bell to anyone?" I ask aloud.

William turns to me and his expression indicates he has no idea what I am talking about. Though the rest of the Cullens, even the Quilettes, look like they know whom I was referring to.

Carlisle pulls a phone from his shirts and very quickly starts dialing a number. He steps out of the house, and you could perceived a quick murmur a little too fast even for my ear to understand what he was saying.

"It is not a bad assumption, Maya," says Edward. "Aro would definitely be looking for more vampire with abilities."

"So based on your reaction, you do know this vampire, Eleazar?" asks William, while studying all the vampires' faces.

"Yes, he is a good friend of ours … kind of like family," answers Esme.

Carlisle comes back into the house, the phone no longer in his hand. Everybody looks expectantly at him.

"The Denalis were already on their way here, but Jake I need to ask of you guys a favor. I know it is out of our agreement, but could it be possible for Sam to allow them to enter through the reservation up north and cross through it with their help? It would seem a smarter move; especially if they're already tracking Maya and William." You can see concern in his eyes; it looks like it's something he does not want to bother the Quilettes with, but it sounds like a wiser choice.

"Give me a second," Jacob says and starts walking towards the door; the foul smell reduces when he crosses the doorframe. A little break for my nose.

Everybody is expectant waiting for Jacob to return with the news. I glance at William and he looks back at me. I can tell that his tension has reduced; he even winks at me, making me forget for a split of a second the gravity of our situation. I still don´t understand why the Cullens are helping us.

"I have one question," says William, everybody turns to him." If you knew that Aro was coming to find us why didn´t you give us a heads up?"

"We could see the decision in Aro´s mind to go get you, but we didn´t know where you were. We don´t have any trackers in our coven, so looking for you would have been like finding a needle in a haystack. Besides, we didn´t know how Maya would have answered when she was presented with Aro's offer," Edward says, looking down at my hands.

now that I think back at that moment in the cabin, it seems that luck was on our side, We both were able to walk away and for me to recover my hands. How long was lady luck planning to stay with us?

In that moment Jake came through the door; he is jumping on one foot and with one hand he's putting a sneaker on.

What is going on? Is he keeping a cellphone in his shoe? I wonder. It seems that the shape shifters might be a little crazy.

"Sam says it's okay. He remembers the scent of the Denali coven. He already instructed the patrol on the northern border, and actually asked a couple more to go over there in case they run into any trouble," Jacob says, looking at Carlisle and then to Edwards and Bella.

"Thank you, Jacob, and please say thank you to Sam," Carlisle answers, while pulling his cellphone from his pocket and again walking to the entrance

"Alice, are they going to make it?" Bella asks, her voice rising with concern.

"Yes, they are. It was a good thing they were already in the way for the wedding, otherwise it would have been tricky." She looks up, not focusing on anything specific."They should be here in less than an hour."

"Good." Esme's face is full of relief.

"Okay, now what's going to be the next step?" William is catching up; he is looking expectantly at Alice.

"Now we wait," answers Edward.

"Why?" I speak up, I don´t want to be rude, but maybe they don´t understand how complicated the situation is.

"We need to know what Aro will do next; otherwise we might do something to shift the Volturi into starting some kind of feud," Edward explains matter of factly.

"I believe they already did that." I hear a small whisper; I can almost swear it's coming from Rosalie.

Everybody is silent; where do we go from here?

"So, we should probably leave you to yourself, guys," says William; seems that he's not comfortable with such a big crowd-after all this years spent of just him and me. "You're expecting company, and we don´t want to impose. We'll stay close by so that we don´t disturb you."

"Oh, you are not disturbing us, plus Esme already set you guys up in Edward's old bedroom," Alice adds cheerfully ."Remember I told you, we were expecting you."

"So, are we some kind of prisoners?" William's voice is insecure, but the same though just crossed my mind.

"Oh, no," Esme looks a little worried, "it's just that I thought you might want some privacy and a place to talk things out. I believe this might be a little overwhelming."

Again I don´t know what to think about it; something inside me feels warm and welcome, but another part is warning me that so much kindness should not be trusted. But right now the Cullens are our allies, and being on their property is a whole lot safer for William and myself than in the outside world.

"Thank you very much, Esme," William adds, his voice is soft. "We would very much like to take up your offer; however Maya and I need to feed. It's been a while now."

They all turn to look at us. The vampires are showing some kind of understanding, while the Quilettes stare at us with hate in their eyes.

"Oh well … we could accommodate you, but considering the situation with you not able to go very far away from our state…" Esme [L9] starts nervously.

That is when it hits me; the color of our eyes are black. They're expecting us to feed on humans, which based on the color of their eyes, they didn´t.

"Alice, did you forget to tell us something?" says Edward; I can tell there is laughter in his voice.

"Sorry, Esme, with all the preparations for the event, I forgot to mention that they are Veggies, like us," Alice adds, her expression surprised that she forgot it.

I can hear a sigh of relief from different members of the group.

"Well, you are free to hunt in our lands, but due to the situation, it would probably wiser if you hunt near the house," Carlisle says, coming through the door and putting his cellphone away.

"But can you be back in half an hour? I don´t mean to rush you guys, but there is an important matter we need to discuss," Alice asks in business-like mode. This gets the attention from the rest of the group.

"Ooohh, noo," Edward says, his face full of disbelief.

"Don´t start with me, Edward Anthony Cullen. You know this is important. It needs to be perfect." Alice's expression is not kind towards Edward.

Bella groans, understanding what Alice meant. I start to get worried; is there something we should be preparing for? Are the Volturi coming with a whole armada?

"Especially you, Isabella Marie Cullen. I won´t let you ruin my fun." Alice turns toward Bella, angrily.

Fun? What is she talking about? Why is she finding amusement in the Volturi?

"Ooohh and don´t think you are getting off because you are new in our bunch." She turns towards William and I. "I am not that off with your measurements; you will look spectacular. You'll knock the socks out of this Englishmen when I am done with you." There is a smile playing on her face as she points at William.

"Can somebody please enlighten me?" I am starting to get worried. I look at everybody and see amusement on most of their faces, except for Bella.

"Oh, she is going to make the Volturi look like a couple of kittens compared to this little tiger." There is laughter in Jasper's voice.

"Good thing she has a new toy to take the attention off us," Bella says smiling widely and turning to look at the teenager on the couch.

During all this time she had been so quiet, not putting her book down; however I noticed she didn't turn any pages since we arrived.

"Oh no, not a new toy, Bella, actually I haven´t ticked you off—o r Nessie." I can hear a groan from the couch, and Jacob laughs loudly. "I have two additional ones, and William is not off the hook either."

"It's like Christmas for Alice." Rosalie laughs. I can finally see a real smile out of her.

"What is she talking about?" now that William has been implicated he starts to worry.

"Come on, off you go." Alice motions as if to push us away. "I´ll see you back in half an hour. I have lots of things to do." Alice is in front of William looking him up and down. "You're taller than what I saw."

Edward is laughing, seeming to find amusement by the thoughts in everybody's minds.

Alice disappears up the staircase with no further words to enlighten us.

"To answer the burning question in your minds," Edward says, "Alice likes to play dress up."

That somehow helps a little bit; although I don´t know what the big deal is considering how worried Bella is looking.

"So, I think we are still her toys," says Bella, she and Nessie share a look or despair. "Good thing we've got company this time, maybe she'll get off our backs."

"Not a chance," I hear Alice's voice from the upper floor.

"You'd better go off and feed; she doesn´t like it when you're late. It gets her moody," Jasper adds. "And then I am the one that has to deal with her."

"Late for what?" I ask with a desperate tone in my voice.

"Well, for fitting our costume—" A snarl comes from the upper floor. "Our formal attire," Nessie says standing up from the couch and dropping the book that she was reading. "It looks like you guys are going to grandpa's wedding."

A wedding? I have never in my 150 years as a vampire been to a wedding—or that I could remember. I look back at William and I can swear he's a shade whiter than usual.

"She is a dangerous little thing, isn´t she?" he says without asking anyone specifically, pointing up, obviously referring to Alice.

"You have no idea," Edward answers, laughing aloud, "but you should know a thing or two about dangerous little things." His head moves in my direction.  
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	13. Chapter 13.- Better to get even

Thank you very much to The Walrus and the Carpenter for helping me Beta this document.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 13.- Better to get even.

Maya´s POV

As soon as we are out the house I feel relieved. It's not that I don´t like the Cullens—they seem a very nice coven—but we are outsiders. William and I have been together for so long it's hard to be with such a big group.

I look at William and see the same expression on his face. He realizes I am looking at him and smiles at me, that big wide smile that has always manages to put a smile on my face and warm my cold stone heart.

He tries to take my hand, but I reflectively pull it out of his reach. I am aware of the consequences if he touches me, and I don´t want to risk it. I swear there there is pain briefly in his eyes, but maybe it's just my imagination.

The day is cloudy, allowing us to go outside without the risk of the sun's rays hitting our skin.

"Well, it looks like we have a little time for us," William says, his smile returning.

I feel my breath shortly catch; I can't help it.

"Which way do you think we should go?" I am trying to remember Carlisle's instructions but am finding it hard to focus in anything other than his smile.

"It would probably be better if we go deeper into the forest; most animals won´t come near a house-full of vampires." He steps closer, his eyes on me.

I close mine and try to regain some kind of consciousness, or at least a calmer breathing pattern Once I'm calm, I open my eyes, finding myself facing the river before me. I know William is right about animals not coming near the house, but I still have my doubts. I don´t want William to cross me over the river.

"Okay, let's go," I say with resolve; the burning in my throat at this moment overpowers my pride. I am thirsty, after all.

We run towards the river in silence; William slows down so that I don´t fall behind. I like it when he does that; he doesn´t make me feel so weak, even though I know I hold him back.

Once we reach the river, William, without asking me—when he usually does—literally sweeps me up off my feet and jumps effortlessly over.

His face is close to mine, and there is a ray of sun hitting it, making it sparkle. I´ve forgotten how handsome he looks. I am tempted to touch him; however, the moment doesn´t last long, before he puts me back on the ground.

He turns and looks at me. "Are you going to be able to hunt, Maya?" His face is playful, but I don´t understand what he means. He points to my hands; I look at them and then back to him.

"If you thought I was deadly without them, you'll be amazed." I don´t have any idea if that is going to happen, but my pride can only be compromise so much in one single day.

"I am always amazed by you, Maya." His eyes are tender, his voice kind. "Are you sure I'll be able to tell the difference?"

"How about we go and figure it out?" I say, trying to change the subject. His stare is somehow intimidating me … in very a good way.

"Lead the way, Madame." His smile widens, accelerating my breathing.

Oh nuts, why did he have to be so darn cute.

I close my eyes and sniff the air that surrounds us while trying to calm myself. The smell is new to me; as is to be expected being in a new place.

"I think I'm in the mood for some deer," I say, sensing that there are some close by.

"No, I don´t think I'm in the mood for that. I was thinking something more along the line of a mountain lion," William replies.

I open my eyes and look up at him, not liking very much the idea. I know how to hunt a deer without hands, and it should be easier now that they are back, but a mountain lion sounds a little bit trickier; I have never hunted one.

I sniff the air, and sure enough there is a mountain lion further away than the deer, but I don´t want William to know that I am chickening out.

"Not enough for the two of us," I say it lightly, not wanting to reveal my true feelings. "Besides, it's not as close as the deer; we should hunt near the house. Remember, avoid risks." It's a reasonable excuse.

"Chicken," he says and starts running towards the direction the mountain lion is.

"For crying out loud!" I run, following him, and hoping that by the time I catch up either William has caught it or somehow the animal got away. Obviously no such luck; when I arrive William is crouching and observing the mountain lion resting near a large boulder. I crouch next to him; his head comes closer to mine, his eyes never leaving his prey.

"Time for you to amaze me, so don´t forget the rules," he whispers so low in my ear the mountain lion doesn´t even flitch its tail; a clear signal it's not aware of us.

Having his face so close to mine, his breath tickling my ear, and smelling his scent makes me forget everything I´ve ever thought—including the rules.

"No cheating with your abilities."

What have I got myself into?

I sigh and go over the rules. Okay, Maya, time to focus.

I have the element of surprise by my side. I look quickly at my surroundings; the tree that is in front of me has a branch that falls right over the lion, plus now I have my hands … yeyyy! I have something to get a grip of now.

I move silently towards the tree and easily climb it; something I couldn´t do in the past. I climb to the top; it shakes a little bit, due to my weight, but the mountain lion is distracted. I hear its heart; it's calling me, and his scent is filling my senses. I am no longer conscious of anything else; it is my prey and it won´t get away.

I jump and land on top of it; my weight crushes its body, before my mouth falls to its jugular. My teeth pierce the skin and artery, as my hand remains on its body and head, keeping it down. The flavor is so much better than deer, yet my thirst still not fully satiated. Then again, I believe only human blood would be able to do that. I can feel its heart thumping and deeming until it stops, and I know its death.

When I am done, I stand up and look at William.

I can tell he is proud of me; it was obvious he enjoyed seeing me hunt in my full power.

"Told you not enough to share," I say humorously, making a face. He laughs a little. I walk closer to him and stop where the boulder ends.

"Now that is just mean. I was looking forward for it." He stands up and walks towards me, stopping right in front of me. "Looks like it will be something not as appetizing for me." His voice is playful.

His now black eyes are looking straight to mine, and it is hard for me to break his stare. My breathing begins to feel heavy, and he dares to come closer, putting his forehead against mine, his nose touching mine. I close my eyes, inhaling his sweet scent, and feeling a knot forming in my stomach. His hands glide around my waist, pulling me closer to him, as his body presses against mine. I put my arms around his neck, and enjoy the moment. This is where I belong. It has been so long since he's come this close; I don´t want him to stop.

There is a sound in the background, and the spell is broken. I turn my head to where the sound came from, pushing myself away from William as my nerves go up to the sky. I hear William sigh loudly.

"What was that?" I know I am jumpy, considering how things have been lately, but it's better to be prepared. I start scanning the area, not knowing what to expect.

"Don´t worry, Maya. It's nothing to be concerned about; it's just a stupid bird." I hear the disappointment in his voice. "Let's finish hunting." He helps me down from the boulder and gently puts me in the ground.

He tries to reach for my hand, but again I pull it away. He sighs again and stays quiet for the rest of our hunt.

After we finish feeding, we run back to the house. This time William is not holding back; he runs passed me. When I reach the river he is not there; his scent is still lingering in the air towards the house.

What did I do wrong? I look forward towards the house hoping that he will be back, but nothing.

I know I am cutting it short on time—I don´t want to get Alice upset—so it looks like I will have to make the jump alone.

I go back as far as the forest allows me, which is not much, then run as fast as I can, timing to the last point I will need to jump from. I put all the force I can muster in that one jump, and I feel myself flying above the river. My hopes raise when I pass half the length of it, but I land short and fall into the waist-high water.

STUPID RIVER!

I walk towards the edge, somehow managing to find a dip at the bottom of the river and fall into it. I'm drenched from head to toe. I continue cursing my way out of it until I reach the edge.

Seems my luck has finally run out.

I pull myself out of the water to the sound of laughter coming from the house.

Great I have an audience. I am so mad right now, mad at myself for being such a weak little thing; mad at the river for … wel l… just being here; and above all I am mad at William for leaving me alone, knowing that I wouldn´t be able to cross it on my own.

I walk back to the house, not caring anymore if I am late for Alice's appointment. I reach the first big rock I see and sit down, not facing the house, and take my pink vest and my boots off, dropping them to the ground. I close my eyes and recline on the stone, searching for a few rays of sun to dry me, while letting the wind cool off my anger. After my small display, I don´t want to give them the benefit of an extra show by and letting them know how slow I am.

I hear somebody approaching but I don´t care who is it; at this moment my pride has been hurt, and I feel betrayed.

"So not a very good jumper." I hear a female voice.

I am about to snap with some sarcastic remark, but before I say anything I glance up and see Bella looking back at me. Her eyes are not showing amusement; they are showing empathy. I sigh.

"No, and for the record, not a very good runner either," I say turning my head back.

"I can relate to that." I look up at her again a little startled, but she is not looking at me; her mind is somewhere else.

"Aren´t you like a super vampire or something like that?"

"I thought that was you" she answers, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Not when it comes to anything physical." I smile a little bit. "I might learn really fast, but when it comes to something as simple as jumping a small river, well…" I point my finger back at my drenched clothes.

"Maybe it's nature's way of keeping balance."

"That can be a plausible theory," I respond, my bad mood dimming. "So you know my weakness, what is yours?"

"I believe you already met my two greatest weaknesses." The answer is so obvious. I see flashes of the field facing the Volturi; I even get a small glimpse of the throne room and what I believe was her as a human defending Edward.

"Nessie and Edward." When I asked the question, I was expecting something more like my physical weakness, but now that I think about it, it might be far more important than anything else.

"Yep, I would do anything for them, and it has gotten me in a heap of trouble." She chuckles. "But it's worth it."

Would it be possible to feel the kind of love where I would rather sacrifice myself than to let that loved one die? I can William's face, and know the answer simple is yes; I would, and so far I have proven that … and so has he.

"So, I imagine that Alice sent you to get me?" I need to get off the subject, because right now my thoughts of William are not very happy.

"She is still caught up with William," I give a small snarl, "but Alice is avenging you as we speak."

This takes me by surprise, and makes me laugh.

"How can Alice avenge me?"

"Oh she can be ruthless when she puts her mind to it—especially when it comes to fashion. You´ll see." That sends a small shiver down my spine, and her expression and tone of voice are not helping.

"So, what was that laughter I heard after my small incident?" I can just imagine what happened; I just want to know how bad it is.

"Well, when we saw William come into the house without you, some of the guys were curious if you could make the jump, so there was a little wager inside." Bella says, a little embarrassed.

"So who won?" I might as well enjoy it.

"Jasper and Edward; they have learned to listen to Alice. Plus Edward cheated, he saw you fall in the water through Alice's thoughts. Emmett didn't not consider him on the bet." I can see that she loves him—making excuses to get him out of trouble.

"Did William bet that I wouldn´t make it?" This surprises me. He would have known the answer; it would have been such an easy win.

"He didn´t even stay; he just went upstairs," Bella answers, and this make me curious. Why wouldn´t he bet? "What happened out there with you guys?" I can see she is curious, but honestly I don´t feel like talking about it; I am still trying to figure it out myself.

"I have no idea. I´ve never seen him like that." I get up, picking up my wet vest and my boots. "I might as well spare William the torture"

"It won´t be so bad; you might even enjoy it." Her expression is expressing otherwise.

There is a buzz coming from inside the house; it catches both Bella's and my attention. There's a new voice coming from inside that I don´t recognize.

"The Denali are here. Let´s go in and see what Eleazar makes out of you." Her face is full of excitement.

As we enter to the house, I see the backs of the new comers; there are two males and three females.

"Mi niña Bonita como has crecido," (translation: my beautiful girl, you have grown so much) one of the females is speaking with Nessie, with a wide smile in her face. They both seem happy to see each other.

Carlisle and Esme are greeting a strawberry blond. From my standpoint, I can only see her back, but I can see relief in Carlisle's face.

Edward is with a male and a female; Bella joins him and greets them as well.

The two Quileute are not here, and thank God, the stench has disappeared with them.

They all look happy together; I do not want to interrupt. Besides, I know Alice is expecting me. I swiftly walk towards the stairs so that my presence doesn´t interrupt any of the parties. When I reach the first step of the staircase I see Alice in the dining room together with Jasper; they are talking to a tall male. I have seen his face in Aro´s memory, and immediately know that the male is Eleazar.

He looks up as if my thoughts had called his name aloud. His golden eyes seem to search for something in my face, before he nods as if something has been revealed to him. Alice and Jasper turn and stare at me, while something in Eleazar thoughts attracts Edward's attention as well.

I look around the room; every vampire is staring at me.

William is suddenly by my side; he moved so quietly I didn´t even notice him arrive.

"Tanya, Kate, Garret, Carmen and Eleazar, this is William and Maya," Carlisle introduces in a formal but gentle voice. "Maya and William, this is the Denali coven."

"It is very nice to meet you all," William says politely, and I can´t detect any trace of his previous mood.

The front door opens and Jacob comes in. He looks around the room, his nose wrinkling in the process, stopping when his eyes fall on me. His eyes scan from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, where a small pool of water is forming.

"Maya, where in the world did you go hunting? Or is your vegetarian diet a strict fish diet?" His face is serious, indicating he was not in the house when the incident occurred.

Emmett laughs aloud, while the others—mainly the males—try disguising their amusement behind a cough.

My bad temper comes alive again. I can´t look at William; I don´t know what I'd do if he laughs. It'S his fault I'm in this current state.

I look at Tanya and put a wide smile on my face, ignoring Jacob's previous comment, and the laughter from the others.

"Nice to meet you, everyone." My voice is strained, but I still manage to keep the smile. "If you will please excuse me, I need to go upstairs and change. I will join you in a little while." I turn on my heels, and head toward the stairs. No one says anything. "Oh! And by the way, Jasper," I look back at him, not daring to look at the rest, especially William, "I will be expecting a cut on some of your most recent earnings." I turn back to the stairs holding my head up high.

"If you would please excuse me also," I hear Alice's singsong voice in the lower floor. "I should probably intercept her; otherwise, I'm certain I won´t be able to get her ready for the wedding."

I hear Emmett's laughter from the living room, followed by an "ouch" afterwards.

With a look of horror on my face, I catch sight of William before me; there is a smug smile on his face, which only infuriates me more.

I am tempted to run to the first room I see and lock myself in it.

"Maya, first, that would be childish. Second, that room you are looking at is Jasper's and mine, so it won´t do you any good. Third, there isn´t any lock on it, so come freely and I promise I will be nice to you." Alice is already beside me smiling, so hiding is out of the question now. "Besides, you shouldn´t get mad, how about just getting even?" she whispers in my ear so low I am certain nobody downstairs would have heard.

Now that is a proposition I can actually work with. My temper starts to come down.

"What is your plan?" I ask her with a doubtful smile.

"Oh … that's going to be a surprise." I can hear vengeance in her voice, and somehow now I am more than willing to play dress up under her wing.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

After a quick shower, Alice gave me a couple of dresses to try on. After careful review from her side, she decides on a light blue dress with one shoulder. It´s Greek style; it has a silver brooch on the shoulder, which makes it stand out from the other dresses that I have tried on. The fabric is light, and when Alice makes me walk up and down the little runway that she set up, it makes me look like I'm flowing. She allows me only a small glimpse in the mirror.

After she makes me take it off, she starts working on my hair with a blow dryer, arranging the curls in a fashionable way. I have never paid any attention to it; it is always just hanging straight down with some curls here and there. It helps that my hair has volume and that there is a great deal of it. It doesn´t usually look so bad, even if I don´t style it; especially since I didn´t have any hands to perform that activity, and William never really offered.

I look back at my hands, realizing how much I have missed them, while thinking of all of the things that I was never able to achieve.

After Alice finishes with my hair, she moves on to makeup. Even though I am a vampire and my skin is smooth, she still takes her time making sure it's just right, giving it some color to my pale complexion.

Bella, Nessie and Rosalie walk in. Rosalie gives me a look of approval, and Bella gives me a small smile.

"Looks like Alice really got in your head, and I mean it literally," Nessies says, standing behind me with a playful smile on her face that I catch through the reflection of the mirror.

"You look very nice," Bella says, looking at all the hair styling tools as if they were some kind of torture equipment.

"You were right, Alice, she will knock William socks off," Rosalie adds, checking out her image in the mirror; she already has her dress and make up on.

"Rosie, can you please start with Nessie´s hair, and don´t you whine. You know Charlie is going to be very happy to see you all dressed up, so suck it up," Alice says matter of factly, without raising her head from my face.

It's clear that she's not in the mood to discuss any kind of nonsense.

"Okay, Maya, you're done. Don´t go anywhere," Alice says, stepping away from me and smiling at the whole effect that she was able to create. "I don´t want to ruin the effect. We still need to get you in the dress, and then discuss shoes and jewelry." I wonder how she manages to put so much detail into my own look. I turn and see Bella; she just shrugs her shoulder. "Now Bella you're up, and please be an example for Nessie."

They both sit in the two chairs in front of the big mirror. Alice and Rosalie both work swiftly, while every now and then Alice checks Nessie´s hair and gives a satisfactory nod.

"It was very interesting what Eleazar said about you, Maya," Bella says, breaking the silence that was becoming rather uncomfortable.

This actually gets my attention. I'm only aware of what I can see thanks to Aro´s memories, but it would be interesting to know if there is something else. Besides, from what I know, Eleazar is the guy that can help me with that.

"I can show you," Nessie piped up, and extends her hand towards me.

"I think that Maya would rather hear about it," Alice says while not losing focus on her current work.

"Oh, sorry!" Nessie gives me an apologetic look

"Don´t worry about it." I was glad that Alice mentioned it. I didn´t want to be rude, but I didn´t want to risk it.

"You know what? I think it's better if Eleazar mentions this personally to Maya," Rosalie says, while looking at Nessie´s hair.

I'm curious, but listening to Eleazar would probably be more exciting, and not a small summary. I don´t want to miss any detail

"There, Nessie, you're done," Rosalie says, looking at Nessie´s copper hair arranged in a loose braid.

It's a look that actually makes her look younger. Nessie looks at the results and rolls her eyes.

"Okay, Bella, you're done with your makeup, now switch with Nessie. Rose, can you help me?" Alice smiles at her newest victim.

I get a glimpse of Bella, she looks stunning, and her hair is not done yet.

"Sure," Rosalie answers, as she analyzes Bella´s hair.

"So what are the guys doing?" I ask finally, remembering the rest of the family.

"Oh don´t worry, Alice already has them working on a few errands," Rosalie adds, giving a conspiratory to Bella and Nessie.

"Yeah, is going to look perfect," Alice says, pausing and looking nowhere specifically.

"Too bad it is so windy at the beach. Sue really had her heart set on saying her vows there," Bella says, her face falling.

"It is going to rain, so there'sno point in ever setting up there. Right Alice?" Nessie asks trying to look back at Alice, as Alice anticipates her move.

"Don´t worry, she's still going to love it." Alice's voice is full of certainty.

"Good thing about the defrosting of the mountain," Nessie says. My stand tenses and Nessie doesn´t miss it. "sorry, Maya, I didn´t mean it like that, you´ll see."

"Okay, you're done," Alice says smiling at the whole effect of Nessie's hair and makeup. "Now you know the instructions, no fidgeting, no changing it, and above all, don´t spoil it. Got it?"

Nessie looks back seriously and nods.

Alice quickly starts working on herself. She's an expert, finishing in much less time than it took her to finish just one of us.

"You're done, Bella," Rosalie says,looking at Bella´s hair which is in a complicated up do.

She looks very pretty.

I can see Bella looking at the mirror; her expression is so obvious. I don´t need any kind of mind reading skills to know that she thinks she looks ridiculous. Honestly, the hair gives her a regal look, and the make-up gives her pale complexion a little more life. Actually, it does for all of us.

"Charlie is here. Come on, Bella and Nessie, I'll need your help. He's a little nervous." Alice grabs Bella and Nessie´s hand and does a quick turn to look back at me. "Maya, you stay here."

It is just Rosalie and me. I stand up to have a closer look in the mirror. I like what I am seeing, and I can´t help smiling at my reflection. My face finally has some color and with the makeup, those dark circles that permanently live around my eyes have finally disappeared. I have somehow managed to look more human. My hair is finally done in a way that complements me.

I start to picture myself in the blue dress that Alice has decided I should wear, but I see a silhouette that is standing next to me, I take a second look, which is a mistake. Next to me is Rosalie fully dressed; her hair and make-up are done to perfection. The long red dress hugs her curves; she looks like a statuesque, and next to her, is me. I am such a little thing; I don´t even manage to reach her shoulder. I just sigh. This is the best that I remember looking, and somehow compared to Rosalie … I am nothing.

Thanks, Rosalie, for that reality check.

"Why are you really here, Maya?" She looks at me.

It stops my train of thought, and I suddenly feel overpowered by her height and attitude.

"What do you mean?" I ask as she continues lookng straight into my eyes.

I back away a couple of steps; I can´t help it..

"Well, wouldn´t it have been wiser not to come here. I mean, you're going to bring the Volturi right back to our doorstep." Her expression is menacing. "We should probably just kick both of you out. I mean, we don´t know for sure if you are working with Aro undercover, or if his real plan is for you to come here and learn our abilities so that latter he can take you back to his troops and then come and kill us all."

"I don´t … that is not …." I stammer, because there is so much truth in her words.

"Rose, stop!" I look at the door. It's Edward. "There is no need for that!" His voice is threatening.

"You heard what Eleazar said." Her voice is full of anger. "Do you want to put Nessie in that kind of trouble?"

"I said enough, Rosalie!" His voice is commanding, almost a growl.

"We…no, I should probably go." I stand up. "She is so right; I should leave now. I am only putting everybody in danger. William can stay. He'll be safe here, and I don´t think they'll advance if it's just him. I just need to make sure that Aro knows that I'm not here."

Rosalie turns away and leaves the room.

"Maya, stop thinking like that." Edward's voice is much softer. "What Eleazar said is a possibility, but there are a thousand of possibilities that might or might not happen."

I stare at the floor still thinking of Rosalie's words.

"Rose, she is overprotective, she cares too much for us—especially Emmett and Nessie. Her feelings are right where they should be, but she is not seeing the whole picture. Sooner or later the Volturi will come. I'd rather have an ally now and be prepared, than just wait as sitting ducks. You got that?" He lifts my chin so that I am looking into his eyes. I know that he means every word that he's telling me.

I nod, even though I can´t quite get a grip of it.

"Would you leave William alone, unprotected to wait for the Volturi to come and kill him?" I shake my head, just the simple thought of William in danger makes me anxious. "Or would you find any means necessary to keep him alive?"

I nod.

Why can´t I find my words.

"Good, then we are on the same page." He smiles.

Alice walks into the room; her face is serious, mad, but not necessarily at me.

"I´m sorry, Edward, I didn´t see that coming," she adds, looking apologetically at him.

"No need to apologize. Rose didn´t make the decision until she saw Maya alone with her."

"Thank you, Edward." Her mood is lighter. "Now I need to finish prepping Maya, so would you mind? There are a couple of good looking girls down the hall looking for you," she says, smiling and winking at him.

Edward smiles and moves to leave the room. I remain meditating over what Edward said.

"And, Maya, for the record, you and William are considered our allies. Don´t forget that." He grabs the door by the handle and closes it.

"What did I say?" Alice looks at me,

I grab my hair and twist one strand of it around my finger. "I´m sorry?" She'd caught me off guard.

No fidgeting, no changing it, and above all, don´t spoil it. So stop doing that" She points with her finger towards my hand.

"Oh, sorry." I open my hand and release it as if it was a burning pot.

"And don´t you dare skip out on us, Maya. I will know if you think it. I´ve got my eyes on you, so don´t do anything foolish, got it?" I nod. "Good, now put on your dress…"

I do as I'm told, and as soon as it's on, she zips it up.

"Put on these shoes…"She throws me a pair of sky rocket high heels that matches the light blue color of the dress. I look back at her seeing if she is kidding, but she's not even looking at me. "No, I am not kidding, and you´ll do just fine. Put on these earrings and this bracelet, and for God sakes, wear the blue satin gloves. Those black ones are killing me," she says, throwing all the things at me.

I do as she says, and by the time I'm done, I look up at the mirror in front of me. I'm no longer the short thing with the straight hair and the woven gloves. I know it's me, but can a little make up and a nice dress really do this?

"Maya, you are beautiful. You just need a little push into vanity once in a while," Alice says, standing next to me. She looks gorgeous in her lilac dress. "So let´s go and get even with William, shall we."

"How is this going to translate into getting even?" I swap my hand across my body.

"Believe me, this is going to be way above getting even," she says smiling. "Just play a little bit hard to get." She looks at my face. "But just a little, we don´t want him to leave, now do we?"

I nod, not understanding a word of what she means.

...

Next update is Schedule in two weeks.

On a quick note, thank you very much for nominating the story Solstice for the 2013 TwiFic Fandom Awards, I really appreciate the trust that you have in me and hopefully I can keep up with your expectations.


	14. Chapter 14.- Payback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much to The Walrus and the Carpenter for helping me Beta this document.
> 
> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 14. - Payback

Alice and I go to the lower level of the house, and the first thing that draws my attention is the laughter that is coming from outside in the garden.

I reach the lower floor and look up at the panel window. Near the river there is a big group of people outside. I feel drawn by the view and get a closer to the window.

"He will be soon here, Maya," I hear Alice in the background, "so remember my advice."

I give a quick nod, not daring to take my eyes of the view in case it disappears.

The rain clouds have moved towards the north, and the skyline has a pink and purple coloring, indicating that the sun is saying goodbye, and is opening its way for the full moon to shine.

I focus my eyes on the river, my bad mood shortly flaring, until I see a view different from what I was expecting. At the bank of the river, there is a canopy decorated to the point that it seems to be blooming on its own; flowers are everywhere that you can imagine. Leading to the canopy is a small path marked by the light of the candles. At each side of the path, there are two rows of chairs that are nicely decorated for the occasion. Big pots of flowers are at the end of each row, azaleas; their aroma will be filling the air.

I move my head to the right and see another path that is light with twinkling lights leading to the reception area. There are five round tables with long tablecloths, and on top of them are big pots of flowers, but instead of azaleas there are white roses in them.

There is small dance floor at one end of the reception area, and in the other corner there's a buffet. Judging by the quantity of chairs and tables, it gives the impression to be a small reception; a contrast considering the quantity of food in the buffet station.

I assume the arrangement is all the boys' doing, while us girl were getting ready.

The people start to take their places in the ceremony area; I notice there is a great number of tall, muscular men, all wearing formal clothes, laughing and having a good time. Some have partners with them, others are on their own.

At one side of the canopy is a tall, beautiful woman, her dark short hair similar to the color of her eyes, her skin tan. She is wearing a beautiful lilac dress that marks her curves. She keeps eyeing the group of tall men and rolling her eyes at them. I almost swear she looks annoyed at some of them. She decides to take her attention from them; instead, she starts scanning the place, and her expression becomes worried.

I listen to a set of footsteps coming nearer; it brings my attention back to my current situation. I don´t dare to look; I am having too much fun enjoying the view, drinking everything, afraid that it will disappear.

"It´s time for us to get to our seats," William says, I immediately recognize his voice and hear a tinge of his previous bad temper.

"Now you are talking to me?" I don´t stop to think what I am saying, and blurt the first thing that comes to mind. I'm still mad at him.

"Maya, this is not the time or the place to discuss it." There is resentment in his voice.

"Fine, this is not about that anyway. We can discuss it later. I want to enjoy the wedding." I turn around and face him.

The expression of his face changes completely, his eyes widen, his jaw drops, and he looks at me from top to bottom. There isn´t any anger in his face; he looks … astonished?

Alice also did a very good job on him. I have always thought of him as handsome, but something about seeing him in a black tie, wearing a suit, hair pulled back, gives him a whole new look that I have never seen before, but most certainly like.

Alice's words come back in to mind, play hard to get. So, instead of staring back at him, I put on my most indifferent face.

I stretch my hand waiting for William to take it, so we can go and sit to our appointed seats. He continues looking at me, not moving.

"Fine!" I take my hand back. "Maybe one of those lovely gentlemen outside will escort me to my seat," I say, before I start walking towards the door. I don´t even get a chance to take a second step; he is right by my side, taking my hand and grabbing it tightly in his, making sure I don´t go anywhere.

Alice was right; it's better to get even than to get mad.

…

The wedding is beautiful. The bride is beautiful, and you can see joy in those wise eyes. The groom at first is very nervous, but as soon as he saw his bride, he only has eyes for her. Bella and Nessie walk the groom down the aisle, and stand next to him together with Seth, the best man, who I now know is one of the shape shifters that met us at the woods. On the bride's side, the beautiful young girl with the lilac dress is the maid of honor, who also turns out to be Seth's sister, Leah. A man in a wheel chair, officiates the ceremony, and I believe he is Jacobs's father.

The moon is standing tall in the sky and the reflection in the river is beautiful. Alice is right; it's perfect.

At the end of the ceremony, everybody throws petals at the married couple as they walk down the aisle. Some of the men are actually howling and having a great time.

I enjoy everything, especially the wedding vows. I smile throughout the ceremony, and constantly kept looking at William to see what his reaction is, but his eyes never leave my face, while his hand never lets go of mine.

As soon as it's over we go to congratulate the bride and groom together with the Cullens and the Delanis. We're introduce as extended family members.

After, we walk towards our seats in the reception area; Nessie and Jacob catch up with us.

"So, William, are you enjoying the view?" Nessie asks.

William looks around as if it's the first time he's actually seeing the garden.

"It does look nice," he says finally.

"Well, we were referring to the other view," Jacob says looking and smiling at me, but before William can answer, they run off.

I look around, wondering if there is more to it, but no. It must be a shape shifter thing.

"Come sit with us," Carlisle and Esme say in unison when we reach the first table.

Another couple is already sitting down with them.

"Thank you," I say kindly, while William pulls my chair out. I sit down, and shortly William sits next to me.

"Hello, Maya, we were not formally introduced, I am Eleazar, and this is my wife, Carmen."

"Hola, preciosa," she says while smiling back at me. (Translation: Hello beautiful)

"Mucho gusto en conocerlos," (translation: Nice to finally meet you) I answer back instantly, not knowing how it was possible for me to answer in a language that I most certainly don´t remember learning.

William looks back at me in surprise.

"Esto es interesante ¿hablas Español?" (Translation: This is interesting. Do you speak Spanish?) Eleazar asks, intrigued.

"Al parecer hablo un poco," (translation: It seems that I speak a little) I answer back, knowing in the back of my mind that I know fluent Spanish.

Eleazar turns and looks at the rest of the table and smiles. I follow his lead and realize that only Carmen, Eleazar and I are able to understand.

"We wanted to thank you for the warning." Eleazar switches to English so the rest of the table can keep up with the conversation. "Carlisle mentioned that you were the one that saw the Volturi coming for us."

"It was an assumption I was not certain about it, "I answer back, correcting him.

"You were not off; some of our friends in Alaska informed us that we had visitors, and by the description, it could be none other than the Volturi." He smiles at me.

"You are welcome," I say back, happy that my hunch was correct.

"You have an interesting ability, one that was a rumor in Volterra, though no one ever saw it quite clearly." He continues to look at me, or actually, around me.

"I can think of a least a couple of little not so angels that were aware of my existence." In my head I picture Jane and Alec's faces.

"Yes, they can be quite ruthless, that pair, "he says, his face cold as if he's remembering something.

"So, what exactly do you see on me, Eleazar? I'm curious to know your point of view." I try to bring his attention back to the previous topic.

"It's a little hard to tell. The abilities that you learned cloud your aura, making it hard to read." He squints his eyes while looking around me.

"I know Demetri has some issues with that." I chuckle, remembering the memory of Aro and Demetri in the throne room.

"I would understand why; too many talents and minds in one-person." He doesn´t smile.

"I wouldn´t call three too many," I say with an indifferent tone.

"Well, actually four, considering your own, Maya," he corrects me.

Oh nuts! I forgot the original one.

"What I can tell you is, as you suspect, you have an ability to learn and mimic other abilities."

I feel somewhat disappointed; this is something that I already know. "But why am I able to do this? Maybe it's something that I can reverse? Or eliminate?

He shakes his head with every question. "I can only answer the first one. Probably, as a human you might have been a gifted child and learned at incredible speed." I look at him not understanding what he means. "Like Mozart; he was a musical genius. You probably were something along those lines."

I obviously know the aptitudes Mozart had, so I nod.

"When a human is changed into a vampire, most of our traits are increase. It doesn´t matter if they're good or bad. In your case, your ability to learn grew exponentially. if I am not mistaken, you were able to mimic other abilities after you touched Aro´s hand." It seems that either the Cullens or William have been putting Eleazar up to speed regarding my condition.

I'm relying in Aro´s memories, though he would have known if I was lying or not, so I nod. "It seems that by getting into other vampires' minds and knowing how their ability works, makes me capable of creating a similar effect," I sa, trying to explain him how it works.

"No ability is the same, Maya, just as no mind is. You mimic your own interpretation of the ability,' Eleazar says, which makes perfect sense, as well as agreeing with Aro´s thoughts. "Have you been able to remember anything from your life as a human?" Eleazar looks at me expectantly.

I close my eyes, and look further back, but all that I am seeing are Aro´s memories. "No." I open my eyes, feeling defeated.

"Does it have limitations?" - Eleazar comes nearer and looks into my eyes.

"Yes, physically, I am probably the most inadequate vampire in history," I reply.

William chuckles. "That is an understatement," he says, and I feel the urge to stamp on his foot and shut him up—especially after the lovely swim that I'd had thanks to him. However, I let it slide, not letting him dim my mood.

"What Aro´s memories show is that it's limits to mental abilities. He tested Corin first, but I couldn´t reproduce it," I continue, ignoring William completely.

"I see why Aro is attracted to you. Just think of the possibilities, and look what he is capable of doing just with Alec and Jane." His mind seems to trail off. "You are much more valuable than that little pair put together."

A cold shiver runs down my spine. Aro has been able to destroy full covens, torture innocent vampires to acquire more power, mostly with the two of them. Honestly, I don´t want to end up doing that kind of work.

"But aside from mimicking and learning, is that about it?" I ask. I'm hopeful that is it.

"I can´t quite tell. There is a lot going around there." His face is confused as he tries to see beyond my face for something. He desists after a couple of minutes and shrugs his shoulders.

"Thank you, Eleazar." It might not have given me much, but at least I know why I am able to do this.

"But, Maya, be careful. Even if there isn´t anything else, your ability, together with the three extra, are still very dangerous in the wrong hands." He looks trouble.

"I know. It looks like that is the burden I have to carry." I look down at my covered hands and sigh. As much as I missed them, life is simpler without them.

"Yes, so do it wisely." Eleazar's face is stern.

I look back at the table and realize that only Eleazar, William and I are still sitting; everybody has left us. There is music in the background; I didn´t even notice when it started. I look at the dance floor; the Cullens have taken over it, while most of the other guests are at the food table, filling their plates.

When I look back, William is standing next to me, Eleazar having already left. "Would you like to dance, Maya?" He stretches his arm, offering me his hand.

"I don´t…" I start feeling nervous at the simple thought of dancing.

"Fine, I understand." He starts to back away from me.

"I don't know if I know how to dance," I finish the sentence, not sure if he hears me.

Instantly my chair is being pulled back, and his hand takes mine. I look up and see his smile, I can´t help not smiling back at him.

As we get closer to the dance floor, I see how Alice is moving, following the tempo of the music, her arms extended, while letting Jasper guide her as she moves together with him.

Bella and Edward keep looking at each other smiling, having a quiet conversation, and not keeping apart from each other. I look down at their feet; Bella is standing on Edward's feet.

At one end is Nessie with Jacob. Her moves are graceful, his, not such much, but he looks like he is having a great time, and making Nessie laugh.

Carlisle is twirling Esme. She looks so graceful, and her feet are so light.

Then there is Emmet and Rosalie. They are also dancing, but she is glaring at me.

Hmmm … better skip that lesson. 

When we reach the dance floor, William takes my hand and puts the other one on my waist. I put my hand in his shoulder, copying Alice's movement.

"Wait, William, do you know how to dance?" I ask him.

"Have a little faith, Maya." He looks amused.

We start moving, and I find myself gliding, following the tempo one, two, three; one, two, three…. William is leading me, moving us through the other couples swiftly. His eyes are locked on mine, and I can´t stop staring at him. I can feel his body press against mine; the grip on my waist is strong, not ready to let me go and twirl me around like Esme.

Our height difference is not that big now—thanks to the heels Alice gave me. I can smell the scent from William's breath, and it is intoxicating. I find myself smiling to my great surprise. Enjoying dancing, or should I say, enjoying dancing with William. I remember watching an old movie on the television and wondering how dancing felt like back then. I tried convincing William to dance with me—without achieving any success.

The music slows down, and our movements slow down with it. I look around and realize there are only two additional couples in the dance floor: Edward and Bella, and Nessie and Jacob. I catch Edward eyeing Nessie and Jacob from time to time, who are now dancing closer together.

William grabs my hands and pulls them behind his head, then grabs my waist, bringing me closer to his body. I look up at him; he's looking at me. His face comes closer to mine; I can feel his cheek against mine.

"You look beautiful, Maya," he says quietly in my ear.

"It's Alice´s fault," I say, smiling.

"No, Maya, it's your fault. Alice only enhanced it." I can feel chills running over me. "You astounded me back at the house." His tone is sweet and hopeful, letting loose his English accent.

As if having him this close to me isn´t bad enough.

"You look very handsome too."

He chuckles. "Alice got to me too." He pulls his head away from mine.

He looks back at me and his golden eyes are blazing, looking right into my soul. I can´t stop looking at him, feeling dazzled. All those years that we have been together went so fast. We have had sad, bad and happy moments, but out of all of them, this is the best moment.

He moves closer to me again, his chin is touching my forehead. I put my head against his chest, not wanting this moment to end.

We stay like this for a little while, when he suddenly stops moving. I look up to see what is wrong, but he's only smiling at me. Leaning closer, he kisses my forehead, lingering there. I feel his warm breath that makes my stomach do a small flip.

I look up and his stare catches mine again. I stretch on my tippy toes, and reach out to him, trying to close the gap between us, but I am not tall enough. He understands what I want and bends over. I feel his lips so close to mine, his scent overpowering me, our noses touching….

I hear Alice gasp, and the spell is broken. In reflex, I turn around and see her blank face. Jasper is next to her, holding her arm, and all of the Cullens', Jacob's and the Denali´s faces turn towards her expectantly. Edward's expression changes from happiness to concern. His eyes lock with William and I, and he nods, indicating to go to the house.

It seems that Aro has decided, and it looks like it's not good news.

I hope you like the chapter. Next update will be in two weeks.


	15. Chapter 15.-Team Up

Thank you very much to The Walrus and the Carpenter for helping me Beta this document.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 14: Team up.

We follow the group to the living room of the house; the Denali's, Jacob, the Cullen's, William and I. It looks so strange; everybody is dress up so elegantly but considering the situation, it looks completely out of place. Everybody looks expectantly at Alice and then to Edward.

"Alice, can you please tell us what you saw?" Carlisle asks, his tone amicable, but there is clear note of concern in his voice.

"They will come after us, again," Alice says, her tone serious. "It's still not decided when."

"We knew that was bound to happen," Emmet says, a grin on his face. "We're ready."

"But, this time there is going to be more vampires—some we haven´t met before," Edwards says, looking at Alice in the eyes, "and some that have helped us in the past are going to be with them now."

"That can´t be right." Esme sounds surprise from this piece of information.

"Why?" Rosalie asks with a trouble face.

"Right now, it's still not very clear. I can only partially see their faces," Alice says. "It has not been decided yet."

I look up at William, and he looks back at me, his eyes worried.

"We can take them," Emmet says, smiling and punching one of his fist into his other hand. It seems he is looking forward to the confrontation. "We have Bella to protect us."

"It is not so easy, Emmett, there will be powerful vampires," Alice says, her eyes looking nowhere specifically. "There'll be some abilities that we have not seen before. I don´t think Bella will be able to protect us from some of them."

"But Maya can help? Right?" I hear a voice coming from the back of the room. I turn and see that Jacob was the one who asked this question.

Everybody looks expectantly at me.

"Of course." This time I won't let William make the decision for me; they're our allies.

"It isn´t enough," Edward adds his eyes remaining on Alice. "there'll be too many."

"Why would so many vampire go with the Volturi?" William asks the whole room. "I mean, what reason would they have to join them?"

"Because Aro will recruit them without giving them any choice," I automatically answer, not aware that I was thinking aloud. Everybody turns and looks at me. "He'll use any means necessary in order to get those vampires to join them."

"He has done that in the past," Eleazar is the one that speaks. I look at him; he looks from Carlisle to Edward. "He already tried that with you, but he was not successful."

"But if he already has those vampires, why come for us?" Rosalie looks around the room, waiting for somebody to answer her.

"Because there are too many talents in this room that he really wants," Eleazar says, looking at Alice, Bella, Edward and I.

"Plus, he feels that after the display that occurred some years ago, the Volturi's reputation has been a little bit shaky. It left quite a few vampire questioning how impartial the Volturi are. Word has gotten around, and Aro thinks you … might be planning a revolution," I explain, seeing in Aro´s mind how he has thought of that.

"That is ridiculous," Tanya says, her face full of anger. "We have never tried anything like that in all of our years."

"Well, we know we are not planning a revolution," Carlisle adds "but he might think some vampires see us a potential replacement for the Volturi, so why wait for that revolution to come? Instead, stop it before it starts."

"Well, actually, stop it before we get more powerful," Jasper says, eyeing me as everybody looks over at me.

"I should leave," I say, knowing that I am the reason Aro has decided to go forward with his plan.

"It is not Maya's fault," Edward says, looking at Alice and then around the rest of the room. "We knew he went looking for Maya to use her against us; this only means he's speeding things up, but with you as an ally we have an advantage now"

"Do you think some vampire's won't join the Volturi if they are able to hide from them?" Bella asks. I look at her, understanding her reasoning. "I mean, Maya was lucky to escape from them, but what would happen if the Volturi are not able to make their proposal to the rest?"

"With Demetri, there is no way to hide from them," William says, knowing firsthand how fast he was able to track us down.

"He can´t track every single vampire in the world at the same time. Having a heads up might give them a chance to prepare themselves, or try to hide," Bella explains.

Everyone glances around at each other.

"Plus, with Eleazar not with them, he won´t know as easily which vampires are gifted," Carmen says, eyeing Eleazar lovingly.

"Well, he won´t as easily know which vampires are gifted, but if there is one in a coven, a single touch will reveal that information to him," I add, knowing firsthand how his mind work.

"It would make his job harder," Rosalie snaps at me.

"But how do we give a heads up? We don´t know all the gifted vampires in the world either," Esme says, her face full off worry.

"We might not know every single one of them, but we do know some," Carlisle speaks up and looks at Esme, his voice, as always, kind. "They are our friends, and some have helped us in the past. It's the least we can do, and maybe they are aware of others that we can notify."

"We know some other vampires as well," Garret speaks up. "They might be interested in knowing that the Volturi might be looking for them."

"But, how easily can we reach the vampires to make them aware of the situation?" Jacob asks, raising from the couch where he was seated next to Nessie. "I mean, it's not like we can grab the phone and give them a call and say, 'Hey, you might want to get on the run, the Volturi are coming to get you,' now can we?"

"You might have a point in that, Jacob," Edward says, looking at Bella.

"Can you see who Demetri will track? That way we can try to contact them," William asks, looking at Alice.

"I can do that, but this will not guarantee us reaching them before the Volturi," she answers, I assume thinking of some specific vampires. "Demetri will know where to go, and in our case, we don´t know where they are."

She has a point. I mean, they knew Demetri was looking for William and I, but Alice didn´t know where we were, and therefore weren't able to give us a heads up.

"So, we go and find them before they do—at least the ones that we know—and give them a chance to be in touch with us, and get in touch with them once we see Demetri going after them," Emmett says.

Somehow this sounds like a more reasonable plan than just to wait.

"But, how would we do that? Jasper asks. "I mean, right now Aro has not attacked us, because he see us as at threat together, and it helps that we are close to the pack."

He is right; out there by ourselves, Demetri could detect we have split and go after us.

"Well, he can´t follow my mind," Bella says, "and from what I understand, he can´t follow Maya quite right either. We could both go."

"No!" Edward and William say in unison.

"Bella, you are not a fighter, and your power only repeals mind attacks," Edward reasons with her.

"Maya can attack them, right?" Bella looks back at me, her eyes full of hope.

I start to move my head side by side. "I could up to some extent, if you could separate the innocent members of the coven from the guards." My mind is still fresh on the scene in the kitchen of the cabin with William on the floor suffering from the pain that I was unintentionally inflicting on him.

"You are thinking only of a mind war," William says. "It would only take a small physical attack to get you down, and then you would both be in trouble."

This makes me feel ashamed, but it´s true; being so physically weak is an issue.

"Besides, you are no longer a newborn, Bella. Your strength is average. I don´t think you would be able to protect yourself and Maya against someone like Felix," Edward says, looking at both Bella and I.

"If we could come with you, that would be a different story," William adds looking over at Edward.

"That won´t work," Alice speaks, her voice full of certainty. "Jasper is right, Demetri would be on your trail right away. Besides, just the two of you won´t do the trick; it would be too slow."

That stops the plan on its tracks.

Everybody looks at each other, searching for a solution.

"Alice, can Demetri track the pack?" Jake says, smiling.

Alice starts looking into the future. "I don´t know, Jake. I can´t see much if the pack is involved," Alice says, her face scrunching with the effort, as if looking for something that is too far away.

"I remember when we met in the battlefield six years ago, how Aro's mind was working," Edwards says. "It seems that the pack might confuse him greatly, considering the link that you form once you become a shape shifter, and being able to communicate among yourselves as wolves. He won´t know exactly where you are. There'll be too many tenors in one mind, just like Maya´s. You might even be able to masquerade the rest of us and confuse them." He's quiet for a moment as he looks at Jacob. "That might actually work, Jacob."

"What?" various vampires start ask.

"We'll need to form different teams and have a member of the pack in each, to repel Demetri's ability," Jake says, smiling widely. "That way we can actually be a lot faster and cover more area without Demetri knowing where to go."

"Most of the other covens have heard of us after our little display some years ago, so they might give us a chance to explain, even if we bring the shape shifters with us," Edward says, his face actually lighting up a little.

This might actually work.

"Except us," William adds, looking around at the crowd. "We have dropped off from the vampire world during all these years, plus anybody that knows me would think of me as part of the Volturi guard."

"That is right," Edward says, looking at both of us.

"I could show them, and explain that you are part of us now," Renesmee says.

It seems she has kept quiet all this time to avoid being kicked her out of the meeting.

All of the Cullens and Jacob look at her horrified.

"That is not even an option." Jacob´s voice is mad; he was obviously not counting on Renesmee being part of the plan.

"You are not leaving this house!" I hear Rosalie at my back; she sounds even madder than Jacob.

Renesmee ignores them all and sits straight in the sofa taking her time, as she looks at everybody. "Too bad. That would mean, somebody needs to babysit me, and then, Demetri will know that some of the Cullens are home alone. They might be tempted to attack us. Additionally, an extra team will cover more area in less time," she says, her face set, her eyebrow shooting up.

"It would probably be safer if you stay in the reservation near Sam. His pack will be able to protect you," Jake says, and I can see the relief in everybody's faces, except on Renesmee's; she is pissed.

"You know I won´t stay there." She looks at Jake, her eyes are threatening. "I am part of this family, and I know I can help out. They need me," Nessie says, pointing her finger towards William and me. "And whatever other vampire we can warn."

Reality sinks in; everybody knows she is right.

"That won´t work," Edward says, answering someone's thought.

"It has too," Jacob, says. "If she goes, I´ll go wherever she does. That is not up for discussion."

Edward eyes Jacob, his sigh not leaving his eyes.

"If we decide to go with this plan…" Carlisle steps in trying to ease up the tension between Edward and Jacob "…we at least need to know where we are going and how many teams we would need. Maybe it will not come to the point where we need everybody."

That actually eases some of the tension of the room.

"We know the Amazon coven, in South America, they have Zafrina, and we know Aro is interested in her," Esme says, following Carlisle in an attempt to distract Edward and Jacob.

"There is the Egyptian coven with Benjamin. I know that Aro wants him." Edward decides to stops staring at Jacob and adds his opinion.

"How about the Irish coven? They have Siobhan and Maggie," Rosalie adds to the list. "Siobhan might not believe in her power, but it could be really dangerous in the wrong hands." Her voice sounds worried.

"There is Alistair, but having Demitri, Aro won´t be tempted to get him, if he can." Emmett laughs. "It wouldn´t hurt us to warn him, or maybe he'll decide to hide under a different rock, just to be safe."

"I met a Nomad coven a long time ago," Garret adds. "They had a member with the ability of Telekinesis."

I notice some heads from the crowd nodding.

"And I once met an interesting Nomad, but I can´t recall what his ability was," William says. I look up at him. What did he mean 'he met an interesting Nomad'? "I might know how to get in contact with him though."

It seems that he and I need to talk about this nomad.

Everyone looks at me expectantly. I look through Aro´s mind, looking for other gifted vampires that he'd once heard about. "I can see some that might be interesting. Aro refers to them as mermaids?" I glance expectantly at everyone, hoping someone has heard about them. Their faces are blank, and it seems nobody has. "It sounds crazy, but there might be certain truth to the myth of them." This time everybody looks at me like I'm a crazy person. "Think about it, vampires are good swimmers, we can hold our breath indefinitely, and the humans find us very attractive. What if? There is a vampire with an alluring voice who can trick sailors to get near them so they can feed upon them. It sounds to me that we aren´t far off a mermaid."

"Except, for the fish tail," Emmett says, and everybody ignores him. I assume thinking of the case that I proposed.

"It sounds plausible. But, do we know how to reach them?" Carlisle asks.

"Aro has a theory that they might be located in the Atlantic Ocean, but it's a long shot. I mean, there are legends of mermaids all over the world," I say, remembering the theories that Aro had about that coven.

"If they have never seen them, Demetri can´t reach them, right?" Bella asks with a hopeful face.

"There was a vampire that claimed to have seen them a long time ago. I don´t know if Demetri will be able to find them," I add as I continue going thru Aro´s memories. "One thing is for certain, if we are able to find them, it's going to be hard to get near them. The vampire that saw them thinks of them as a vain coven, so not all vampires will be allow to get close." Everyone looks over at Rosalie, Tanya and Kate. "Although, they might be able to."

Rosalie's face changes momentarily; she is happy to be recognize as a beautiful one. It is so obvious that her ego just burst up, but I do not want to stare too long at her; I don´t want to be glared at again.

"So the Amazonian, Egyptian, Irish, three Nomads and Mermaids. That is seven covens, and that means seven groups. Plus, we don´t know if they might know of other covens, but it is a start," Jasper adds, doing the math. He looks at Alice, and she nods. "That will mean we need to split into seven groups using your help, Jacob."[L4] Jasper says while looking at Jacob.

"We have Seth, Quil, Embry, Leah and Me." Jacob counts a finger with each name. "I can ask for Sam´s help to get us to seven."

"You might want to check with Leah, Jacob. After all this time on her own she might not be happy about being recruited," Edward says, and I assume he read something in someone's mind.

"I´ll talk to her," Jacob says, his face showing that he is not very fond of the idea.

"So we have the support from the seven shape shifters; what would the groups be?" Emmett asks, his expression getting excited.

"Well, Carlisle and Esme could be one, then Alice and Jasper another; Edward and Bella,; and Rosalie and Emmett," Kate puts in, doing the math.

"Kate, Garret could be another group," Tanya adds, "and Eleazar, Carmen and I could be another one."

I can see everybody doing the math, and am aware that Nessie is needed to cover more covens.

"Nessie and Maya could be another team." Emmett is the brave one to say who the last group is.

"No, we can rearrange the last group," Bella says a little too desperately, looking for an alternate possibility. "Tanya and Maya could be another group, then Nessie can stay with Sam, and there'll be no need for you to come." She smiles at Nessie, and there is logic in her grouping.

Nessie looks at her mother defiantly. "How certain are we that the mermaids are in the Atlantic Ocean?" She looks at everybody's faces, but stops when she reaches me.

"Not very." I look at her knowing she is right. We are only speaking in theory, but reality has shown us that there are legends of mermaids all around the world.

"Because, if you ask me, they are an important coven to warn. An alluring voice is a dangerous ability in the wrong hands. We might actually need to put two teams, or more, tracking them." She looks around at everybody in the group and smiles knowing she just outplay all of us.

There is a dead silence in the room.

Edward sighs; he is not happy about the logic, but knows she is right.

"The moment we warn them, you are coming back home." His voice is composed, but you can tell he is worried about her. "I don´t care if your team is not able to warn other covens. We will deal with it, you got it?"

Nessie looks as if she is about to start a fight.

"No, Nessie, it's not up for discussion. You are coming back home." Bella's voice is gentle, but there is a command in her tone that I´ve only ever heard in human mothers.

"Using Nessie's logic, we might need to add another group. Tanya, William and an additional shape shifter could be another one." Jasper looks at Jacob, who starts nodding, agreeing with him.

"Well, actually, that is not going to work," William says. I look up at him, Jasper is right; an extra group is what we'll need.

"Why do you think that might not work?" Emmett asks. "Demetri can´t follow Maya, or maybe even Nessie, considering she is not a full vampire. It should be more than enough for one shape shifter to cover them."

"No, William means from a physical attack," Edward says, reading William's mind, and everybody looks at Nessie and me

"With Nessie being a hybrid, I´ve been told that her strength and speed are not as potent as a true vampire's." William says, looking at the rest of the group. "And Maya´s physical abilities are … well, you saw it a while ago." My mouth drops in that instant. How dare say this twice to my face, as well as in front of the whole group? I can accept being humiliated once, but that is as far as my pride is willing to go. My bad temper creeps back up. "Could one shape shifter protect both of them? We just agreed that Bella and Maya were not a good group, based on the same premise."

"I agree with you, William, Alice says. "It might be safer if one of us go with them."

"But why? Are we expecting an attack?" I ask, around the room. "I mean, I'm small and I wouldn´t represent a threat to a coven or Nessie." If William is going to play the weak card, then I might as well use it in my advantage.

"But we are not certain that at some point we might cross paths with a Volturi." William looks back at me, his face serious.

"Alice could warn us?" I look back at Alice, hoping she'll back me up.

"Maya, I might be able to look at the decisions Aro, Caius and Marcus are making, but they know how it works. I have blind spots, and somebody else might be calling the shots, and then what?" Alice looks back at me. "Plus, I don´t get to see a lot with the shape shifters and Nessie in the picture. In a way your group would be blinder than the others."

"Plus Edward and I would feel more comfortable if there was one full vampire with you, guys," Bella says, looking at William and then at Edward.

"I´ll go," Edward says, making the decision.

"No, I´ll go," William says, looking at Edward. "It looks like Bella is also one the Volturi are after, so she might need your mind reading ability, Edward." They look at each other; something is obviously going on in William's mind that Edward is reading, and I can see some understanding in Edward's eyes.

Edward nods back at William, and it seems like it's settled.

"Welcome aboard to Team Jacob," Jacob says, as everyone gives him an unkind look.

"I don´t think you´ll be the right shape shifter for that team," Edward says, and there is an edge to his voice.

"If you get to decide what vampires are teaming up, then I get to decide what shape shifters are going with each team." Jacob looks back at Edward, not breaking his stare.

"Edward," Bella touches Edwards arm, and he looks back at her, "he would do everything in his power to protect her."

Edward closes his eyes. He is obviously not happy with Jake being with Nessie.

"I don´t agree with William coming with us," I pipe up. "It means one less team, and the more teams we have, the more area we can cover faster."

"Maya, I don´t think it's up for discussion anymore," William says, his tone is serious.

"Well, then I´ll go with Tanya, and that will make an extra team." I look back at William.

"I´ll go wherever you go." He looks back at me, his face is deadly serious.

"If both of you go with Tanya, then Nessie and Jake can´t go," I hear Edward saying. "At least not alone—which would not accomplish anything."

"WHAT?" Nessie and Jake say at the same time.

"That won´t work," Alice says, smiling back. "We need every possible team available." This time her face is serious, and somehow I know it's true.

"If that's the situation, I don´t mind going by myself with a shape shifter," I hear Tanya saying from behind me, but I don´t turn back; I'm still looking into William´s eyes.

"See, it's settled," William says with a smile in his face.

"I don´t think so. It's too risky for her to go alone," I say.

"I believe Tanya can defend herself"—he is not backing down—"which is something you can´t."

This only infuriates more.

"And I think Aro would rather look for you than Tanya." His voice is becoming stern.

"And that is exactly why he'd be looking for you, isn´t it?" I know I've hit homerun with this one.

"Well we have the shape shifters to masquerade that." He's also getting mad. "Besides, I know how to take care of you."

"I can take care of myself!" Again, I don´t take my eyes off him. It has become a staring contest.

"Okay, fine. If that is the case, let's make a little test." He smiles. "If you can jump the creek by yourself then I´ll go with Tanya."

Oh, no, he didn´t just say that! It was a low blow, and it makes me fume. I look around, and I actually see Alice shaking her head at me, a silent warning that I am not going to make it.

Before I can do or say anything else, William takes my hand, not giving me a chance to pull it back. "If you will all excuse us, I need Maya to see my point of view," he says, looking at everybody, and I see questioning in Emmett, Jasper, and Rose's eyes. There is knowing in Edward's eyes, and Alice is actually smiling and nodding?

"I feel like I'm having déjà vu," I hear Emmet say before William pulls me out of the office, down the stairs, and out of the house.

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I hope you like this chapter and would love to hear your comments.

Next update is Schedule for: December 4th, 2013 ;)


	16. Chapter 16.- Just touch my hand

Thank you very much to The Walrus and the Carpenter for helping me Beta this document, you totally rock!.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 15. - Just touch my hand.

POV Maya

He pulls me outside of the house, and as soon as we cross the porch he drops my hand and looks straight into my eyes.

"Why are you pushing me away, Maya?" He looks straight into my eyes.

"You don´t want to be with me." I know that I am a dangerous little thing—a complete and total freak!

"You think you know me, Maya, but believe me you don´t know even half of who I am or what I feel." His voice grows serious.

His statement takes me by surprise.

"William, we have been together, what, roughly one hundred and fifty years? I think I know you pretty well."

"That´s the thing, Maya, you don´t; you just know a part of me. It would be interesting if you learnt my other part." I can tell that an idea is forming in his head. "How about we make a little experiment of our own, shall we?"

I look at him terrified. The last time I did some little experiment I ended up in a lot of pain and with no hands.

I start shaking my head. "No!" I say firmly.

"I haven´t even told you my proposal, now have I?" He comes closer but stops when he sees me shake my head. "Don´t worry, I am sure this is not going to hurt." He extends his hand towards me, when understanding sinks in.

"I said no, William!" My mind and voice are determined.

"Maya, just touch my hand." His voice is stern and all business now. He extends his hand toward me once again. I put my gloved hand in his.

"No, Maya, touch my hand with yours. No glove this time," he says tenderly.

"No, William, I am afraid of what might happen."

"Please, Maya." His voice is soft; the English accent clear in it.

I once again shake my head.

"Maya, don´t be so stubborn." This time his voice sounds desperate, anxious. I turn my head away and close my eyes. "Why is everybody aware of my feelings, except for you?" His voice lowers to almost a whisper.

I can´t give him an answer.

"The irony! You can easily learn how to create pain, how to read minds, how to eliminate a sense, but you don´t want to learn about me." He gives a small laugh, but there is no joy in it.

His words feel like a slap on my face. Physically it doesn´t hurt, but emotionally it hurts more than the physical slap that Alton gave me. I turn to look up at him.

"That was not optional!" My voice gets louder. How does he dare throw this to me? He knows how much I hate having that knowledge. He should have known better.

I expect him to fight me, but his face is defeated.

"Maybe Aro was right about something, you are too stubborn indeed," he says, giving me a cold look, before he spins on his heels and runs towards the woods.

I want to follow him but I don´t. How is it possible that I am able to endure Jane's torture, having my hands literally ripped off my body and spend almost 150 years without them? Somehow all that is nothing compared to what I am feeling right now. His words are sharper than a knife; something inside me is being torn apart. My knees buckle up and I drop to the ground kneeling, not knowing what to do.

Esme comes out of the house, her face full of shame. I realize that everybody inside heard our conversation; it feels like another stab inside of me.

"I am sorry, Esme, that you had to hear everything." I try to find a coherent phrase to ease up the embarrassment, while a numb feeling takes over my body. "This shouldn´t have happened."

"You don´t need to apologize at all, Maya. Can I ask you something?" she says timidly.

"Always, Esme." My voice sounds robotic. I turn my face, afraid of revealing how much pain I currently am, facing the direction that William ran off.

"Why wouldn´t you touch his hand?" There is kindness in her voice.

My mind can´t let go of those last minutes with him.

"It's rude to intrude into somebodies mind and learn too much of that person. Plus the power that comes with it," I try to explain her; although, it feels as if I am trying to convince myself of the reasons behind my actions.

"Honey, you might be right; it would be rude … if you didn´t have their permission."

I hear her approaching.

"I know," I whisper.

"But he was practically begging you to touch his hand."

I am speechless. How stupid I´ve been. I was trying to avoid hurting him; however, my actions managed to accomplish that.

"You should go and find him," Esme finally says.

If this past one hundred and fifty years have taught me anything, it's that I am no match against him if I try to outrun him.

"I can´t. He's so fast; I will never catch him."

"He's probably expecting you to catch him. Don´t lose more time, Hun, before is too late." I hear her walking back to the house.

"Why are you helping me?" I ask lowly, before she enters the house. Why would she care to help this little monster?

"I don´t like seeing any of my children hurting." With that, she enters the house and shuts the door behind her.

This gives me a little bit of comfort; I know her words are the truth.

Closing my eyes, I sniff the air that surrounds me. I catch his sweet scent, and without opening my eyes, I stand up determined to find him.

I sniff again; my breathing is faster, my anxiety grows. I don´t want him to leave me; I need him. I might be the weakest vampire in history, but knowing that I am about to lose the most important piece of me, makes me run faster. I jump the river without hesitation; it's better to be with him drenched from head to toe, than alone and dry. Somehow, I barely make it to the other side, but I don´t stop. I need to run; I need to catch up with him.

I continue, not giving myself a chance to think of anything. The only thing that matters is that I find him, before it is too late.

The trail of his scent ends together with the road. Maybe he decided to hitch a ride and leave me? Why am I too stubborn to see my own feelings? I look around, hoping to get a glimpse of him, but I don´t.

"WILLIAM!" I shout  
at the top of my lungs. If he is still close by he might hear me call.

"How on earth did you get here so fast?" His surprised voice comes from the top of the tree behind me.

It scares the bejesus out of me. I didn´t expect him to climb the stupid tree.

When I look up, he'd already climbed down and was standing not far away from me.

"I ran." There is no other way to explain it.

"No, Maya, you don´t run like that. Believe me, I know." He actually sounds astounded. "Not even if your life is at stake."

"Seems that I finally found a reason to be fast," I say, feeling embarrassed.

"What would that reason be that you considered more important than your own life?" He crosses his arms around his chest.

"You." I look down to the ground not wanting to see the rejection on his face.

A small silence follows, I can´t resist any longer, so I look up. His face is surprised. Of all the answers that he expected that is the only one he was not prepare for.

"I need you to understand something. It's not that I don´t want to know you better; it's the power of that knowledge that frightens me," I say, trying to make him understand my own reasoning, and letting him know that it is not him, but me.

He starts walking closer to me, stopping half way.

"Maya, I know of what you are capable of. I have witness it, and I still want you to touch my hand, so can you please help me here." His eyes are kind and gentle. They light up with passion and hope.

I walk towards him, closing the gap between us. He raises his hand, palm up, stopping at my height. I put my hand on top of his; he holds it with his other and removes the glove that covers it.

"Don´t be scared," he says gently, while his eyes look straight into mine.

Every part that his skin touches causes a fire to spread inside me. There isn´t any pain; it's intense and warm, going all around my body. I gasp, surprised by this new feeling.

Images start flowing through my mind, of his life right in front of me. I close my eyes, letting the images flow freely, letting him guide me through them.

"Time for you to see our time together, through my eyes," I hear his voice so clear in my mind as if he had spoken them aloud.

I see a cloudy part from when he was human, how he had always been handsome, strong, fast and brave. A good little soldier, as his mother used to call him.

He loved his family so dearly; his twin brother, Ivan, his beautiful Mother, Olive, and his strict Father, Salvatore. He felt broken when all his family was taken away from him so suddenly. First his Mother's mysterious death, then his Father's disappearance, and never seeing his brother again.

When his godmother, which he'd only met once, told him that she needed his help with a vineyard in Italy, he jumped at the opportunity of leaving all the painful memories behind and devoted himself to managing the land.

Some years later, he tried to go back and look for his brother, but he never left Italy. He was distracted in Volterra by a beautiful red head.

Suddenly he was afflicted by a pain so strong he couldn´t help from screaming and hoping for somebody to be kind enough to kill him. Slowly, the pain started to recede until he finally woke up and realized that he was no longer a human, but a vampire.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a new perspective of the world, and a beautiful red head right in front of him, a wide smile in her lips. He was intrigued by her and would follow her every order once his thirst was satiated.

Next, was his life as a Volturi guard. It was not bad, and he loved the city, the architecture and landscape that he could observe in Volterra. It didn´t take long for the Master to send him on a quest to Siberia to verify the existence of the Children of the Moon. He and Alton were appointed as partners; he was not happy about it. He disliked the cruelty in Alton, but obviously he didn´t have a choice; the Master ordered it and he would go through with it.

Five years later he returned to Volterra after the quest, hearing rumors about a little vampire. His fellow soldiers joked of how she could do amazing things, but how physically weak she was. The rumors were hard to believe.

The day he returned from the quest, his superior informed him of a new task: to take care of a prisoner for as long as the Master wished.

Later that night he met the Master in the gutter, together with Chelsea, Jane, Alec and a couple of soldiers. When Jane tortured the little vampire who was on the floor, her screams pierced him on the inside. He kept his face expressionless, afraid that the Master would think he was weak. He was not happy to see Jane and Alec bite off her hands, but believed she deserved what she was getting. After all, the Master had ordered it.

When he was finally free to go, after the entire group had left them, he lifted the little vampire in his arms. She looked so broken, and unable to stand up on her own. He looked straight into her eyes and something shifted inside of him. She was so young and innocent, and the need to protect her grew within him. He couldn´t explain what happened to him. When he looked again into her eyes, he saw the terror when she realized that she no longer had any hands; she was going into shock.

Maya saw another image the little vampire catatonic, with William so desperate to get her to feed. No human was any good; she never drank from them, even when they were bleeding so profusely that it was even hard for him to restrain himself. He knew how long it had been since she'd fed, and it worried him. He finally figured animals were the answer, so he brought her animals on the verge of dying, and to his great relief she actually drank from them.

Next was the image of the little vampire waking up after ten years of being in her frozen state; of looking into a mirror and smiling at her own image; the amazement of seeing how beautiful she was. William couldn´t help but smile when he saw her. Then the little vampire tried to run away from him; it was funny how he didn´t even have to try to catch up with her.

Afterwards, seeing a house of the terrible man burning fast, he kicked the back door open, feeling relief in finding her alive. He took her into his arm and ran as fast as he could to get her away from the danger. He saw in her eyes that she finally understood the importance of the law and how anability in the wrong hands could be a terrible thing for everybody.

The next image was of them starting a life together; although, it was annoying for him having to chase her every now and then. An idea finally came to him; after being scare to death when he couldn´t find her for three weeks, he made a deal with the little vampire. He decided to change his diet to animals if she promised not to run away from him. It was a hard promise, but he knew he could do it in order to keep her safe.

With each image, his feelings grew stronger for her.

The next image, he was teaching the little vampire to hunt; being so proud of her when she caught her first prey. During the celebration they had together, he was about to kiss her, but knew better; he would always be her captor. He had orders he needed to keep, and nothing good would come from it if he expressed his true feelings for her.

Why disrupt the perfect arrangement they had and give her a reason to leave him?

Time passed, and he was constantly looking at her when she was doing something else. He wasn't able to stop smiling when she was happy. All those books he read with her, while giving her the impression that it annoyed him, he'd actually enjoyed the time they were spending together.

In text image was when they'd met Emmet and Rosalie, and how scared William was feeling. He knew the Volturi were still in charge of the vampire world, and how close they were from them. He did not wish his little vampire to be near them, even though he wanted to go and support the Cullens; it was too dangerous. He no longer thought of Aro as his master, and did not agree with how things were being handled—especially regarding his little vampire.

Afterwards, as he tried to comfort her, he was surprised that the little vampire came close to him and allowed him to touch her, smell her and caress her. Things were not easy anymore, so he let her go. However, his feelings betrayed him, and before she left the room, he got a hold of her and cornered her against the door. He was finally able to feel the warmth of her body against him, and smell her scent mixed with his. The temptation to kiss her was so great, her face so close to his…. He never wanted to let go of her.

He restrained himself and managed to step away from her; she might not feel the same way as he did, and with the Volturi still in charge, there was no future for both of them … if she even corresponded to his feelings.

"I´m sorry," his little vampire said when she left the house. He was certain she would never come back after his little display, and break the deal. He wouldn´t blame her; he would let her go.

After a few hours he went outside and caught her scent, letting him know she was nearby. He felt relieved and promised himself he would never lose control like that again. However, that didn´t mean he couldn´t make her happy.

The next image was of being in New York with her, and seeing her having the time of her life. One night he climbed the Empire State Building with her on his back; he never wanted that climb to end, and then seeing her expression of excitement when they were at the very top, of looking around screaming at the top of her lungs that she was on top of the world. He wanted to make sure that her smile would always stay on her lips.

He surprised her later, with an ice skating in a nearby forest after New Year's eve. Seeing her twirl with her hair flowing in the air and laughing aloud—he couldn´t stop from smiling. Knowing that she was happy, and thinking to himself that, even if he was her captor, he could still make her time with him memorable. She took him by surprise at the end of the night when she hugged him and blew him a kiss. She was too distracted to notice that he caught the kiss and put it where his heart was—even if it no longer beat. He knew he loved her from above all things.

The next image was of meeting Alton, and knowing how dangerous he was, and that the Master wanted his little vampire back. She would not be safe with him, but there wasn´t any choice; orders were orders and he was no longer a member of the guard. He had been dismissed and there was not even a chance for him to be near her as a soldier.

When he turned his back away from her and started walking, leaving her behind, he had to will himself to move. His mind entered to a dark corner, and wiith each scream he knew he needed to save her.

He was no longer able to think of life without her, while knowing that she wanted to be with him, as he left her to the monster that Alton was. It made his insides fill with pain and anger towards himself, and he knew at that moment life was not worth living if he couldn´t be with her.

He knew that killing Alton meant putting a death sentence on his head, but at least his little vampire could be with him a little longer, making his distress disappear.

After this, he decided to play it smart in case the Volturi were able to find them. He gave the little vampire a package of documents and money, asking her never to reveal where she hid it in case they needed to flee the country, or if, at some point, he would no longer be next to her, she would have a chance to escape from the Volturi.

He started to behave cold in order to avoid knowing too much about her current state, and this pained his little vampire and him, but the less she knew the better chance she would have to live.

The next image was of being intercepted in the woods by the Volturi, who took them where she was, inside the cabin. He knew his time was up. When he helped the little vampire up, he pulled her with too much force, but he was finally able to hold her in his arms one last time before he died.

What did it matter now? He was going to his death soon. It came so naturally to give her a hug and a small peck on her forehead; a goodbye kiss. He didn´t want to reveal his feelings, and there was no more time or options. If there was one thing he feared more than the Volturi, it was her rejecting him. The only thing that mattered was protecting her.

The next image was of Aro, Jane, Renata and two guards in the cabin; he knew that their time together was coming to an end. He tried to protect the little vampire from them at whatever cost. He unsuccessfully tried to hide his feelings from Aro when he touched his hand. Aro was curious to see how far the little vampire would go to protect him, and so was he.

He was amazed when the little vampire was able to throw Jane to the floor, and surprised that she recovered her hands. No matter how much pain he was in by being torture by Jane, at least she was completed once again, and able to fend for herself. What better way to protect her from the future once he was not here?

He noticed the pain reducing, but it was still incapacitating. He looked up and saw the guards and the rest of the Volturi on the floor, in the same pain. The little vampire was full of anger, her hands in front of her, showing what extent her power actually was. He was able to say her name and get her out of the trance she was in. He needed to move, they needed to get out, and so, he pushed his limits and managed to stand up and run away with her.

The next image was of them running away together into the night and stealing a car. He realized he was no longer her captor and they were in the same team now. He was her accomplice, and no matter what happened from now on, they were in it together.

She confessed to him that she partially knew who she was, but his hopes were dying. There was not many options on how to stay alive; at least, for him. He tried to leave her but she stopped him, surprising him on how far she was willing to go for him, while knowing the danger that it represented.

The next image was of approaching the Cullens. His little vampire was so brave; she could be so stubborn but he understood a different face to her. She never wanted to use her abilities against others; it had pained her when Aro forced her to learn her talent. She refused working with the Volturi; which was the reason that had got her in the trouble that brought her to him.

Then it was his frustration during the hunting; he was so close to kissing her. He got the impression that she wanted him to do it, but she was so easily distracted. Then when she wouldn't let him grab her hand made his insides fill with anger, and he did the last thing he would have expected, he left her behind.

The next image they were all dressed up for the wedding. He thought he looked like a monkey in a tuxedo, but Alice made it clear he needed to wear it. He came down the stairs; his little vampire looking at the window, her back towards him. He was still mad at her, but this was neither the time nor place to have an argument. His anger vanished when the little vampire turned and look so strikingly beautiful. He already knew that she was a beauty, but the dress, her hair, and the makeup … the whole package pulled the rug from under his feet, shocking him. She finally offered him her hand, and he took it, not planning to let her go.

The next image was of them dancing together, and him finally having her in his arms close to him. He had always hoped that they could dance together, but knew it will required too much of his control. But now, there was nothing stopping him; he was savoring every single moment he had with her, even if it would only be a glimpse of happiness. They were both so close to each other; her face was touching his as he smelled her hair. He stopped and looked at her; it was all or nothing now. He was ready to kiss his little vampire, but the gasp from Alice distracted them both.

The next image were the discussions about the teams, and of the little vampire pushing him to another team. Didn´t she understand he needed her? Even if it was only to protect her from a physical attack? Still, she didn´t care, she didn´t know him, and there was only one final solution.

In the next image, the little vampire refused to touch his hand. He finally understood that she only cared for him, but did not love him. Feeling what the humans called heartbroken, he said the words he regretted; however, there was a tinge of truth in them.

He ran away, wondering if he should stay or go, but trusting faith that this would provoke the Volturi to come and look for him. It would provide a distraction so the Cullens and his little vampire had a chance to live, and him a chance to die.

In the next image he heard his name being called out by his little vampire. It took him by surprise that she had caught up to him so fast. It could not be possible; at least, not for her. Then, hearing that magical word, 'you'; it such a simple word that managed to fill his heart with hope.

He instinctively walked towards her and stopped. He needed to make sure this was what she wanted, but she didn´t even hesitate. She finally came to him and allowed him to touch her hand.

In every image, I could see his kindness, his bravery, his concern, but above all his love towards that little vampire. There wasn´t the slightest doubt in his mind that she was his perfect match. He then remembered long ago of Aro telling him, "your strength and her weaknesses make you perfect for this job", this was not what Aro had meant, but somehow there was so much truth in his statement.

They were perfect for each other.

I open my eyes, and William is looking expectantly at me; there isn´t any more story to tell.

I can´t even start to describe the happiness that I am feeling for that little vampire that he showed me through the years. In his memories he had always been mine, and I had always been his.

I now know it was never fear what I thought I saw in him when I recovered my hands. He didn´t think of me as a nutcase; it was fear of me not sharing his love.

I smile at him."You are wrong on two accounts and right on one. The first wrong one is that I am most certainly a nutcase"—he sighs, looking exasperated—"and the second wrong is, thinking I have never loved you." He holds his breath, his expression pained. I put my other hand on his face, caressing him and making him look at me. "Because the word 'loving' somehow falls short to describe the way I feel for you. You have become my life and my reason to exist. And the one account that you are right is that I have always been yours, no matter what, as you are mine."

His mouth breaks to a smile, and he brings his face close to mine. I can feel his sweet warm breath. He comes closer and smells my hair, and again I hear him sigh.

I turn my head up; his lips are touching my cheek, giving a couple of kisses here and there, and leaving a warm trail where they touch my skin. I close my eyes as his nose trails my cheek down to my jaw, and then to my collarbone. I can smell his hair, sweet and intoxicating. I close my eyes, my mind not being able to make a coherent thought.

He goes up again stopping at my mouth, before I feel his lips on mine so gently.

I'm afraid that I'll run away, but there is no way I am leaving. This is where I belong and where I should always be.

I return his kiss, at first timid, but shortly it becomes eager and desperate. I never thought I could feel like this. He leaves my hand and brings me closer to him. I can feel his body against mine, his warmth spreading. He bends down and picks me up; I put my arm around his neck.

I can see how happy he is, and I finally realize how he has been my sunshine for so long, as I have always been his.

With my ungloved hand, I touch his; his mind tells me what his actions during all this time that we have been together have been, "I love you Maya with every fiber of my body and my soul."

Without him knowing, he has been teaching me a new ability. There's no need for my hands; it came so natural and kept growing through the years. I can hardly perceive it, but it's the most powerful and important of all; the ability to love him.

He continues kissing me, I can´t find myself parting from him. My hands go to his hair, finally able to touch the softness of it, as his stubble prickles my cheek. I feel alive, my flesh warmer than it has ever been.

Suddenly he stops kissing me; I look back at him concerned. "So, Maya, am I going to be part of your team?" he whispers so lovingly in my ear.

I giggle at his question, it sounds so far away after everything that I just saw. I am so happy I can only hope this moment to never end.

"No, you are not going to be part of my team," I say seriously. His face is surprised and full of shock. This was not the answer he was expecting after everything that he just showed me. "Technically I did jump the river by myself."

His face starts to change, but before he can say anything else, I put one of my fingers in his lips.

"It looks like we both are going to be team Jacob."

He starts laughing and shakes his head. "I don´t think so. I will always be team Maya," he says looking straight into my eyes. I can´t help but smile back at him and continue kissing him, allowing the feeling of happiness run through my body, and getting lost in his lips once again.

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I hope you like the chapter, so far this is one of my favorites. I hope to hear your comments :)

Next update will be in two weeks.


	17. Chapter 17.- You did what?

Thank you very much to The Walrus and the Carpenter for helping me Beta this document.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 17 .- You did what?

We hear somebody approaching us; William puts me back on the floor, his hand never leaving mine. We turn and see that it’s Edward.

“Well, looks like you finally came to an agreement.” He smiles at both of us. “Unfortunately, we need to start moving in order to try to get ahead of the Volturi.” His face falls with this last part.

“So, what is the final plan?” William asks as we move back toward the house.

“You guys are going to find your contact together with Nessie and Jacob.” He looks back at us briefly. “Rosalie, Emmet, Tanya, Kate and Garret are going to look for the Mermaid coven. Each group will cover a different area where the legends are stronger and more recent. Our research indicated South Africa, Israel and New Zealand.” He continues, “Carlisle was able to reach Siobhan, and they will cover Ireland and Scotland territory, which also have a lot of legends regarding mermaids. One shape shifter is going to meet them there to masquerade their minds.” We reach a cabin that is near the river, and Edward stops walking, but continues talking, “Carlisle and Esme will track some Nomads in America, as will Eleazar and Carmen. Jasper and Alice are going to South America to reach the Amazonian and Nahuel to see if they know of any more vampires that we might need to be warned.” He looks at the cabin door, his expression troubled. “Bella and I are going to Egypt to try to reach Amun´s coven.” he sighs.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, concerned to see his face fall.

“That’s where Aro is starting. Alice is not certain if we are going to reach them in time, and according to her, Benjamin is a key player, so we need to be fast.” His expression indicates that the odds are not good.

The door to the cabin opens, distracting me. I turn and see Bella coming out, a backpack hanging from her shoulders. She walks over to Edward and takes his hand. Her look is also troubled.

“I just wanted to ask you to please…” she says, her voice sad and broken.

“We will protect Nessie and keep her safe,” I say, thinking this is probably the reason why Edward came to look for us.

“Thank you; she means everything to us and to the rest of the family,” Bella says to us, and then looks at the big house that is standing at the other side of the river. The path still illuminated by the twinkling lights that were set up for the wedding.

I look at Bella; her face is preoccupied. I know she wants to be with her daughter, but in order to protect her from the future, she needs to warn the others.

“I know how much she means to you, Bella; it’s one of your weaknesses, right?”

She smiles back at me and then at Edward.

“I swear I will protect Nessie and keep her safe.” I look back at William. He is still alive because of their help; the least we can do is do is keep Nessie safe.

“Thank you, William and Maya.” Edward looks at William. “Can you cross Maya to the other side? I know that Alice wants to give her some final instructions, and I would like to ask you for a personal favor.”

“Of course.” William pulls me up in his arms and effortlessly makes the jump, bringing me down gently to the floor and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek, “I´ll catch up with you.” 

I nod and watch as William jumps the river, before I run towards the house. As soon as I enter the house I realize the teams have either left or are about to leave. Rosalie is at the back of the house hugging Nessie, a look of despair on her face, with Emmett behind her caressing Rosalie’s back. Carlisle and Esme are handing some car keys to Carmen and Eleazar.

“Up here, Maya.” I hear Alice’s voice from the upper floor.

I run up the staircase and enter her room, to find her closing some backpacks. She looks up at me and gives me a smile.

“This is yours.” She points to the backpack that is next to the one that she just closed. It leaves me speechless; the backpack is probably as tall as I am. “There is a change of clothes already set in your room.” She stands up and gives me a hug. “Maya,” she whispers in my ear; I can hardly make the words out, “remember, the future is not set in stone. Whatever happens, don´t lose yourself. You know who you are and who you love.” She stops hugging me and looks straight into my eyes.

Yeah…. I didn´t understand a word of what she just said to me, but I nod, and she laughs a little “Take care of our family.” Her eyes try to reveal much more than what I am currently capable of understanding. The only part I’m able to make any sense of was the taking care of her family. It is clear that this means Nessie.

“I will,” I say, trying to smile at her.

“Oh and by the way…” She lifts the backpack and hands it to me. I take it with my uncovered hand, which briefly touches hers, and I see quick and incoherent flashes of faces belonging to vampires that I am certain I have never met. I look back at her terrified; she smiles at me, completely ignoring what just happened.

Did she do it on purpose?

“Try to enjoy the button up shirts and the jeans, they will look great on you.” She winks at me and looks expectantly at the door of her room. Jasper enters the room, and extends his hand to Alice.

“Ready?” he asks her; the words have not even left his mouth before she is already nodding.

It seems they also need to start moving.

“Good Luck,” I say to both of them before they leave the room. Jasper turns and looks back at me.

“You too,” he says and gives me a small nod.

Alice winks and smiles at me, but the smile doesn´t reach her eyes.

I grab the backpack and head towards the room that Esme originally appointed for William and me. 

So much has happened in the last day; running for our lives, meeting the Cullens, attending a wedding, and once again back on the run. What is the future storing for us? And … what did Alice mean with that cryptic message? I know she purposely wanted me to touch her hand, but for what point?

I stop and close my eyes, remembering the faces she showed me. Looking into the future, I try to replicate her ability, but I am not able to do it. It seems it isn’t something that can be learned, but rather born with; a sixth sense. Plus, the touch was so brief; in that moment Alice was focusing on faces that are now imbedded on my mind.

I enter the room and close the door behind me. I drop the backpack on the floor and say bye to the beautiful dress. It seems like it is time for us to get on the road.

I walk to the mirror to catch one last glimpse of the dress, but before I can reach it, William intercepts me. I don’t realize he was already in the room. I didn´t hear him come up the staircase.

I look at him; he’s already taken his tuxedo off and is wearing a pair of jeans and no shirt. Considering my height, I get a very good look of his torso, which is muscular—having a front road seat to see and understand what a six-pack really looks like. I look up to his face, and he is smiling, but before I can do anything else.

Feeling intimidated by his height, and well … his playful attitude, I walk backwards and hit my back against the door of the room. His body is close to mine, his scent overpowers me, and before I can even react, his hands are on my face. He moves closer and starts kissing me passionately. I am no longer aware of anything, or of what I was about to do; all that matter is him and I. 

I put my arms around his neck, and his hands move from my face to my waste, before he lifts me up, making it easier for me to reach his lips. I wrap my legs around his torso and bring his face closer to mine—if that is even possible. One of his hands finds its way to my thigh and starts caressing it, sending sparks through me and making my other leg jealous for being neglected.

He stops suddenly, pulling his head as far away from mine as possible, though his eyes continue looking into mine. His breathing is becoming ragged as well. “This is how it should have ended in the cabin six years ago,” he says smiling.

I remember that moment, when he had me against the door, his nose trailing up and down my cheek, and wishing it would never end.

“And why does it need to end there?” I say, trying to recover some rational thought from this new overpowering feeling.

“Well…” he chuckles and puts me down, “because if it doesn’t, we won´t be able to go out in a long while.” He touches my face. “And we need to get on the road, soon.”

Reality sinks in; I close my eyes. Somehow that brief moment actually made me forget everything we have ahead of us. I pull my head back and bang it against the door.

“Darn it!” I open my eyes and see him smiling back at me, his face expressing the same desire that I am feeling.

”Don´t worry, once this is over, we will have a long time ahead of us,” he says, putting on a brave smile.

“Then don´t do this to me. You’re just giving me ideas,” I say, completely frustrated.

“Good, you agree then, because this is the most passionate moment we get to have in a while.” He is actually laughing a little bit, and my mouth drops. I look at him full of disbelief. “I promised Edward we would behave for the sake of the ´kids´”

“You did what!?”

He chuckles and backs away from me.

One hundred and fifty years hoping to get a glimpse of passion and romance and all I get are two measly little kisses. I don´t think so! 

“Oh no! If this is the most passionate moment we get to have in a while, I am stretching it as long as I can.” I run to the bed and climb it. There’s a shirt on top of it, and I do the quick math: one shirtless William, one shirt on the bed, equals William´s shirt. I manage to reach for it before him, then turn around and try to run from him, and have an excuse to blackmail him for it, but before I reach the other side he is already there waiting for me.

I stop before I run into him; he reaches out and holds me down from my waist. I let him pull me towards him, and stretch my arm high holding the shirt so that he can´t reach it.

“Maya,” He puts a serious tone in his voice, but I can hear a tinge of amusement in it, “can you please give me the shirt?”

“You´ll have to earn it.” I flash him a playful smile and enjoy seeing the effect of my words on him.

“Oh really?” He raises his eyebrows. “What exactly is the price?”

“I still have to decide.” I lean my head closer to him, but he releases his hold of me and starts backing away.

“Well, since you haven´t determined the price, I´ll wait for you over there while I finish getting dressed.”

I turn and see another shit in the corner of the room, which is bigger than the one that I am holding. I realize that the shirt in my hand is mine, and it seems that I just made a complete ass of myself.

I don´t even try to make a run for it; he already has a head start and knows my plan by now.

I slump down on the bed, disappointed. I let go of the shirt, take off my shoes, and grab the jeans, that were next to the shirt, and put them on—beneath the dress. I´ve never worn this kind of stretch jeans before—which don´t slide as easily as the pants that I am used to wearing. I manage to button them; which, actually brings a smile to my face, considering I am finally able to do this activity. I pull the shirt closer to me and work on the zipper of the dress, but I am not able to reach it. I stand up on the bed hoping the position helps me, but nothing.

“Hummm … William?” I turn and look at him; he has his shirt on, but hasn´t button it up yet, still revealing part of his wonderful, hot torso. A picture forms in my mind of my hand moving through it, feeling the warmth of his body against mine….

That is so not fair. 

I pull my eyes away from the wonderful distraction and remember what I was going to ask. “I need your help.”

He looks up, a doubtful expression on his face.

“We need to get on the go, Maya.” He stands up, his hand going to the first button of the shirt….

Nooooo!

“I know that, but I can´t reach the darn zipper.”

He has uncertainty on his face; he is probably thinking that I am tricking him.

I turn around and show him my current dilemma; I even stretch my arm so that he is aware that I am not lying.

He is thoughtful for a moment; having an internal struggle.

“I know you´ve told me I shouldn´t wear anything that I can´t take off or put on, but I didn´t chose this dress.” I could probably rip it off now, but I´ve gotten rather attached to it, so I don´t want to damage it. “And it´s borrowed,” I put in for good measure.

In the past we´ve gotten in some heated discussions. I wanted to wear more fashionable clothes, but he has been reluctant to help me get dressed, so I have been wearing baggy clothes all the time that we´ve been together.

I turn around, and he is still rooted into position.

“Please? You just said we needed to get on the move.”

He gives me a small nod and walks to where I am located. I turn around and pull my hair to one side, to give him a better access to the zipper, and come to think of it, to avoid getting my hair caught in it.

I feel his fingers gently touching the dress, and holding the higher part of if, his other hand pulls the zipper down. The fingers that are holding the top of the dress touch my skin, and I feel an electric pulse go through my system. I have to use every inch of my self-control to not lose it.

When William is done with the zipper, the dress is still in place. I was hoping it would come lose once it was undone. “Hold still, I have to undo a hook.” He sighs; I feel his warm breath at the back of my neck, which sends shivers down my spine, and I bite my lip to avoid moaning. 

His hands work on the hook touching my back, sending an electric pulse once again. He leaves his hand there, the warm of it starts spreading on my back, the dress finally comes lose; I bring my arm up to hold it from falling.

His hand leaves my back, but only to slip below the dress around my waist, bringing me close to him. My bare back is against his bare chest as his lips press to my shoulder, moving their way up along my neck, to my cheek, and to the temple of my forehead, then back down, staying at my earlobe.

I can´t take it anymore; I turn around, and finding his lips, I kiss him back,. I try to put my arms around his neck, taking advantage of standing on the bed, and having his lips within my reach, but the one shoulder sleeve doesn´t allows.me. I free my arm from it, trying to hold it with my other hand, as I continue kissing him. I am usually good at multitasking, but honestly, my mind is more concentrated on his lips than on the dress, so … it falls. I don´t care; my hands are finally free to go around his neck and get closer to him. 

“Maya … where is your shirt?” he manages to say, between kissing me.

“Who cares,” I answer back, in between kisses.

His arms leave my body and I feel him move, then, after a short while, I feel something on top of me. He unlinks one of my arms and directs it in one direction, then guides the other in the opposite direction, all this while we are still kissing.

He pulls his head away as his hands close the shirt—that I now realize coherently I am still wearing….

Who knew he was good at multitasking?

He smiles, and I can see his breathing is as ragged as mine.

“If you wanted my shirt, you should have just asked, and we could have avoided all this show.”

He chuckles and brings his face closer to mine, his forehead touching mine, but he is careful that his lips don´t go near mine. I feel his breathing more even now.“How about we drop the shirt and continue with the show?”

I pull away and give him the most mischievous look I have.

He laughs and starts pulling away….

Darn it!

I look down at the shirt and realize that he’s somehow managed to close a couple of buttons on; which, actually are not in the correct order, but I have to give him points for at least being able to close more than one.

“You know what…” I look down at the shirt, bringing my arms downs as the cloth of it covers my arm and hands completely—it’s obviously too long for me. “My bad. It doesn´t fit right.” I look up at him; he’s shaking his head. “You want it back?” I start unbuttoning it, and he quickly turns around.

Oh Nuts!

He backs away from me and heads towards his backpack.

“I´ll think I can find another one.” He laughs as he opens it.

I look down at my feet; the dress is at my feet on top of the bed. I kick it. “For the record, I don´t think this shirt, or any shirt for that matter, looks right on you,” I say while bending down and picking up the one that is mine.

“You´ve never complained in the past,” I hear him at my back. 

I unbutton William’s shirt, taking it off quickly and pulling mine on.

“Well, I don´t recall seeing your chest and abdomen before.” I can´t help from smiling at the memory as I button the new shirt on. “And they are top notch, for your information.”

I look around at the edge of the bed for some kind of shoes that Alice might have left for me to use. Right next to the night stand there are a couple of boots with heels. They’re not as tall as the previous shoes, but they are most certainly not flats. On top of in the nightstand there are a couple of black gloves—much nicer than the ones that I was wearing when we arrived.

I put the boots and gloves on, then get off the bed, pick the dress up and lay it down nicely on top of the bed. I pick William´s shirt up and walk towards him. He is already fully dressed, closing his backpack.

“Here, don´t forget to pack your shirt.”

He turns and smiles at me, and without a word, packs it in the backpack.

“Seems that we are set then,” I say sadly, knowing our time together is ending. I walk to where my backpack is located, and am about to grab it, but William reaches it first. “William, you should let me carry something.” I turn and see has both backpacks set on his back, as his eyes look me up and down.

“Where did you get those clothes?” He looks surprised.

I look down at what I am wearing; a pair of jeans, which I believe they call stretch fit, a flannel shirt and a pair of boots. “Do they look bad?” I walk towards the nearest mirror and realize that the shirt is tight on my body, marking my waist. The jeans, being stretch, mark the shape of my hips and legs, and the boots help me look taller. My hair is still as Alice styled it for the wedding, and I am still wearing makeup. You can easily see this outfit on any girl in the street, and I don´t understand what is wrong with it.

“No, actually you look … top notch, for your information.” He smiles, moving closer to me.

“Still Alice’s fault.” I look at my reflection in the mirror, and see William in the background. He puts his arm around my neck and gives me a kiss on the top of the head.

“I already told you, it’s your fault,” he says gently, while sniffing my hair and sighing. “It has always been you.”

I look at his face through the mirror.

“Are you sure it’s not the makeup, the clothes and the hair?”

He rolls his eyes. “You´ve been in my mind, you tell me.” His thumb goes up and down my cheek, his eyes looking back at me through the mirror.

I find myself holding my breath, seeing ourselves as a couple. I like the image I am seeing.

A knock on the door suddenly breaks the spell.

“Hey, guys, don´t mean to rush you, but we need to start moving.” Jacob´s voice comes through the door.

“We’ll be down in a minute. Maya is having trouble deciding which shirt to wear.”

I can´t believe he just said that. I turn around and look at him; he puts his finger on my lips.

“Women.” Jacob is not too subtle about being annoyed as we hear him going down stairs.

William pulls me close to him and gives me a quick kiss on the lips.

“You are making it really hard for me to want to leave this room,” I say as soon as his lips part mine.

“Well, I was thinking that for the sake of the kids we need to be discreet, but they have to sleep at some point, right?”

When I see his devilish look and understanding where he is going, my hopes start to raise.

“But we can´t be too far away from Jacob,” he continues, bringing my hopes down. He sighs and I see a new plan forming in his head. “Well, what I meant with discreet is more in the lines of courtship, old time style, not whatever they have going on in modern times.” 

Okay it seems I did not understand his original plan.

“Really? That’s what you want?” I say, not convinced with the idea.

“Well it’s not what I really want, trust me. However, it’s what we might be able to get by, under the current circumstances. The other choice is our previous arrangement.” I look at him, and I know my face is full of horror; he laughs. “Honestly, I don´t think that I can go back there, now that I finally know what it feels like to kiss you and hold you in my arms, even to hold your hand. Because of that, I am willing to wait for all this to pass by, and finally be able to be with you down the road.”

“Argh! it´s not fair.” I cross my arms and pout my lips.

“Nobody said that life was fair. But let’s think of this courtship like foreplay.” He brings me closer to him.

“Longest foreplay ever, if you ask me,” I say beneath my breath, which actually makes him laugh aloud.

“Come on, Maya, let’s go.” He gets a hold of my hand and brings it to his lips.

I start walking towards the door, but William pulls me back and brings me close to him again. I turn to face him, and he bends down and moves close to my ear. “I love you, Maya.” He puts his arms around me and lifts me up. Reaching for my lips, he kisses them gently. “Now we should go.”

I smile at him; he puts me down on the floor and gets a hold of my hand once again.

I am a vampire, which means our kind is hard to kill, but I am certain either the Volturi are going to kill me, or this so call ´courtship´ is.

Why did William promise we would behave for the sake of the kids?

Yep, there is a better chance of that being the reason for how I die.

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

I hope you like the chapter.

I have great plans for the story and reading your wonderful reviews just make my day. 

I don´t know if I´ll be able to update in two weeks, I´ll be out on vacations and the internet connection is going to be limited.

:(

 

But to compesate my lack of updates for the next two weeks, on January I´ll be posting a story that occurs before Solstice that explains a little of William and Ivan´s backstory.

The story is called "Red Moon", to get a small preview of it log in....

http://fandomformexico.blogspot.mx/

Next year I will be posting Red Moon which is now complete and I´ll start working on the background story of Maya as well (Bright Moon) .

 

I wish you all a Merry Christmas (Felíz Navidad) and a Happy New Year (Feliz Año Nuevo).

 

:) Regards................Cristy.


	18. Chapter 18.- The Package

Thank you very much to The Walrus and the Carpenter for helping me Beta this document.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 17.-The Package

We have been driving for several hours towards the border to Canada where Maya supposedly hid the package. The drive itself has been rather easy; there were no surprises from the Volturi, and the car that the Cullens loaned us is actually quite nice. Although it's not a recent model, the Black Mercedes has perks; it's fast and it has tinted windows.

Maya had decided that Nessie would go in the front seat with me, to avoid giving her any romantic ideas being close to Jacob. It was actually a big mistake; Maya and Jacob were behaving like children. It was almost funny, until they got on my nerves. I constantly kept glancing back and throwing warning looks to Maya, even busting her a couple of times, but I could see in her face the mischievous look, probably planning to annoy Jacob.

After six hours, Nessie was the one that gave up and decided to change the seating arrangements; she went to the back together with Maya; which meant Jacob was on the front seat. This actually cool things down, but I immediately understood why Maya was behaving like a child; having Jacob´s scent so close could really get to you. After a couple of hours, I was the one that finally gave up and promoted Maya to front seat together with me.

When Maya and Jacob change seats, I could almost swear I saw a look of conspiracy pass between them, making me believe that they´d been planning this all along. Honestly what was I to do? It seemed everybody was happy—apart from the stench of course-which only Nessie didn't complain about.

During this time Jacob explained to us exactly what it meant to be a shape shifter, as well as its benefits and downfalls. With Maya, as usual, the curiosity got the best of her, and she gave Jacob a hard time as she got every possible answer to whatever question came to her head, from him.

"Really, stink bomb? You can communicate among yourselves when you are in your wolf form?" She stared at Jacob.

"I already told you, yes we can. Are you deaf?" He sounds amused.

"So, is that how we are supposed to get updates from the rest of the team?" She , ignores his question, instead she cranes her neck further trying to get a better look at the backseat.

"No, we have the cellphone for that," I answer back.

Edward had given me a cellphone when Maya went to meet with Alice. He didn´t think it was a good idea if Jacob had it, considering that in case of an emergency he would turn into his wolf form and probably break it.

"That is one way of getting updates, but we could always have the other way." He chuckles.

"It would be kind of ineffective, Jake, considering that we are going to be all over the world, not in the same time zone, and you guys having to sleep, plus you would all need to be in your wolf form at the same time, making it really hard," Nessie puts in.

"Let's call it a backup plan in case we have low reception." I can see him smiling at Nessie lovingly.

I turn trying to see Maya, but I only get the back of her head; she is not letting him off easily.

"So you have a good reception up there, stink bomb? What is your cover area?"

"We´ve tested it from Forks to Canada, Dracumaya." His tone is smug.

They´ve been calling each other names since we got in the car.

"How about across the Atlantic?" I can picture her eyebrows shooting up and staring at him.

"Haven´t test it, but I have confidence that it will be all right." He yawns, and I see Nessie yawning as well.

"Maya, I think they will need to sleep for a while."

Maya turns and looks at me. "I am not done with the questioning." She looks annoyed, which manages to steal a smile from my lips.

"Yes, but I am done with the answering." Jacobs decides to put the final note to make Maya pipe down … I hope.

"Ouch, MUTT, watch it; you have bony knees!" Her tone is nowhere amicable.

Ugh! Not again!

She has been complaining how he keeps hitting the back of her seat with his knees.

"You should push your seat further; you are hugging all the leg room." I look through the review mirror and see a smile on his lips; he probably did it on purpose, and considering he was stretching.

"You did that on purpose, dog."

Just when I was thinking things were becoming amicable, they manage to find a way to get on each other's nerves.

"No, I didn´t; just look at this small space that I have. Any move that I make hits your seat, leech."

"This free space, as you like to refer to, was the one you were using when you were sitting up here," she snaps back at him.

"Is not my fault I am big and you're the size of a mosquito."

Oh! Nuts! This is not going to end well.

"Did I hear right?!" Her voice is eight octaves higher.

Need to distract her, need to distract her….

"Maya, just move your seat closer to the dashboard." I look at her and give her a warning look.

She rolls her eyes, but does as I tell her.

After a small while, I hear the soft breathing from Nessie followed by the loud snoring from Jacob.

"And he says my singing is bad. Has he even heard himself snore!" Maya turns and looks at him, shaking her head.

"Why are you provoking him, Maya?" I turn and look at her.

She turns away from Jacob and brings her focus to me. Her face looks ashamed and sheepish, like it does when I've caught her doing something she is not supposed to do. "Because it's distracting and fun." She shrugs her shoulders.

"You are aware that if you piss him off, he might change into a wolf, and put Nessie at great risk. Or at least, that is what I could make of what he explained."

She bites her lower lip. "I wouldn´t go that far. It's just … his scent is not helping, and I'm feeling all moody. Are you sure we can´t crack down the window just an inch or two?"

I shake my head; she knows better.

"Well hopefully my sense of smell will regenerate at some point in my lifetime."

I can't help but smile at this, hoping the same thing.

I take advantage of her distraction, grab a hold of her hand and give her a small squeeze. She turns in surprise, looks at my face and smiles before returning my squeeze, not releasing my hand.

I look at the road and see the sign showing that we are still one hour away from Canada.

"So what exactly is inside the package?" Maya breaks the silence.

"You should know by now. You've already been in my mind." I smile at her and enjoy the effect that it has on her; her eyes widen and I notice her skip a breath.

"I could look at the information, but I'd rather you tell me." She smiles back at me, and I can feel my insides warm by that smile.

"Some years ago I started questioning how impartial the Volturi were, so I decided to create a backup plan. Honestly, I never meant to use it, and each year that passed by the probability seem less, until we met Rosalie and Emmet six years ago. I realize that the Volturi were still alive and in power, so I started putting some money aside, getting fake IDs from different countries in case we needed to flee the US, and a small piece of paper that contained the information from the vampire we met in New York."

"I knew I saw a piece of paper being handed," she adds happily, but I just roll my eyes at her. "So what is so special about Fred?"

"I have no idea. We were talking about vampire rules so I put him up to speed in regards to that. He was also curious about our habits and behavior. He showed interest about abilities and asked many questions, which made me believe there might be something special about him. At the end he gave me a piece of paper and indicated that if we ever needed anything to contact him." I decide to skip the part where I got a strange feeling about him; as if it was hard for me to come near him at some times.

"So maybe Fred doesn´t have an ability and we are just risking our necks trying to let him know that the Volturi are up to something?" Her face is serious.

"It's a possibility. But who knows, maybe he knows somebody else and he can let the others know."

She thinks about my answer, and gives a brief nod. "Did you ever look inside the paper?"

"No, if he had an ability I didn´t want Aro to recruit him. I Told you, I already had my questions regarding the Volturi."

She stays quiet processing the information, before she smiles at me, leans closer to me, and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "Well let´s see what is on that darn piece of paper then."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

We arrive at the gas station that Maya mentioned. I look around but don´t remember very clearly seeing it before.

Those three weeks of constant driving after facing Alton, hadd me doing a lot of thinking; I had been on autopilot, and not paying a lot of attention to my surroundings. The only thought circling my mind was not allowing Maya to get closer and more attached to me; I was a dead man . If anything, those were the only actual weeks where I was behaving like a soldier with her as my prisoner; the irony is, at that point, she wasn´t my prisoner anymore.

I didn't notice when she got rid of the package, but at some point I turned and no longer saw it in her hands.

We park the car at a closer location and walk to where the park is located. I look closer and finally get a glimpse of it. It has a few young trees around it, and many flowers have just bloomed, giving a very vivid coloring to the park. I start scanning initially, to make sure I don´t detect any other vampire nearby, before I turn around and notice Jacob is doing the same thing. Jacob is as overprotective of Nessie as I am of Maya.

Of course, Nessie and Maya seem to forget that we are in some kind of feud with the Volturi and cross the street to where the park is, without even analyzing our surroundings.

"Nessie!" Jacob says while crossing the street—a car almost hits him on his way to reach the other side.

Maya and Nessie both stop and look at Jacob, their expressions indicating the ignorance of their mistake, but Jacob furiously start lecturing them about the importance of being together. He is rudely interrupted by a human male who steps closer and engages in conversation with Nessie and Maya. I wait for the light to turn red allowing me to cross the street without the perils of damaging somebodies car.

I reach them and stop a couple feet away from where the human is talking to them. "So as you can see, you can help somebody by donating blood."

I eye Maya, she's still looking at the human male, her smile is frozen in place. Jacob is actually holding out from laughing, while Nessie is kindly looking at the human.

"So what is your blood type?" The human turns and looks at Maya; Jacob actually starts laughing aloud at this.

Maya´s face is full of surprise and she starts biting her lower lip.

"I wouldn´t ask that if I was you." Jacob is finally able to step in.

"Everybody should know what their blood type is." The human's eyes are still set on Maya. "If you like we could go to the trailer and make a quick test."

I would think the whole conversation is amusing except for two small details; the human obviously doesn´t know who he is messing with, and second, I do not like the way he is looking at Maya.

"I already know it." She's finally out of her trance and gives the male a big, wide smile. "Unfortunately I am not eligible to donate blood." She puts a pout on her lips.

"Oh! I am sorry to hear that." The human's face falls, but he keeps looking at Maya. "Does your younger sister know her blood type?" He doesn´t even look at Nessie, but it is obvious that he is referring to her.

"I think this conversation is…." Jacob begins.

"No, she doesn´t know her blood type." I eye Maya but she is not looking at Jacob or me. She grabs Nessie´s arm, turns and winks at her to follow her lead. "Ness, it's important that we do this." Her tone is all serious. "I know you;re scare of needles, but you never know when you might need some blood." Her eyebrows shoot up at this last part.

"O-o-o-okay?" there is a lot of doubt in Nessie´s voice, but she plays along.

Maya is planning something. What exactly? I have no idea, but before I even consider stopping her evil planning, she heads towards where the trailer is, bumping with me on her way over there.

I stop on my tracks; the trailer probably smells of blood—considering all the vials that it will be able to carry. I notice Jacob moving to follow, but stop him.

"Is she nuts?" He is staring at me.

"I couldn´t agree more." I pull his arm. "Jacob, I can´t go in there."

"Then stay here; I;m going to get both of them out." He starts walking off.

"I can´t follow you, Jacob."

He stops and looks at me, understanding the dilemma. He can´t go over there and pull Nessie and Maya out, without leaving me behind, but I don't want to risk going any closer to the trailer. "Just stand midpoint in case something goes wrong," he finally adds.

I sit down at a bench that is near, facing the trailer. A thousand of images are going through my head with not one of them having some kind of successful conclusion. I´ve seen what Maya is capable of; I should know better.

Jacobs seated on a bench closer to the trailer, his stand also tense.

After what seems like an eternity, they finally step out both laughing together with the human. They wave goodbye and make their way over to Jacob and I. Maya is carrying a small cooler, and as soon as the human disappears back into the trailer, Jacob intercepts them before I am able to reach them.

"What is wrong with you two?!" Jacob's voice is full of stress.

They both look at each other with a look of conspiracy on their faces.

"You will thank me once we are in the car." Maya smiles at Jacob.

"You can´t take off like that—especially to a place such like that." He points towards the trailer, his voice controlled, avoiding creating a scene.

"Nothing happened, Jake." Nessie steps closer and touches Jacob´s hand, but he pulls it away from her.

"No, you put yourselves at a very high risk. I don´t think either one of you gets it. What kind of…"

"Hey, stink bomb, if you want to get mad at somebody, get mad at me. Nessie didn´t do anything wrong," Maya cuts off Jacob and gets between him and Nessie, protecting her.

"That was not smart, Maya." I reach them, as Maya turns to me."I agree with Jacob."

Her eyes are full of hurt, before she storms off from where we are.

"We should probably go and get the package." Nessie is the one that breaks the silence. "And for the record, she is a genius." She glares at Jacob and me, then turns on her heels and catches up with Maya.

I look at Jacob, and his face is full of just as much disbelief as mine.

"I am not getting a good feeling about those two teaming up." Jacob turns and looks at me. "They are going to be trouble"

Maya stops when she reaches a statue of some small children playing, before she looks around at each side. I follow her lead and realize that there is hardly any people left in the park. Nessie comes and joins her, while Jacob and I catch up, and helps her put down the small cooler.

"Nessie, Jacob cover me," Maya instructs them.

They locate themselves in front of her, like some kind of bodyguards until Maya is out of sight. I look above Nessie´s head when the grinding noises start. Maya pulls at a small part of the statue, trying to reach the package located inside.

"William, can you reach it, please." Her voice still sour.

I look around at both sides, confirm that nobody is looking, and do as instructed. As soon as I remove it, Maya closes the gap in the statue, leaving it as it was previously.

"Thank you for guarding it." She tells the small children of the statue, as if they could hear her.

I have to hand it to her, it was a good hiding place. I would have never been able to find it.

Nessie and Jacob finally see the famous package, and they look disappointed; it's not very big. They start walking, putting some distance between us, but not too much. I start following them but stop when I realize that Maya has stayed behind.

"Are you coming, Maya?" I ask her; she's still looking at the statue. She sighs, nods, then picks up the cooler.

"I am sorry, William," she says when she reaches me. "I didn´t mean to put you through that."

"It's just hard, Maya. You like to put yourself in a lot of risks"

"I knew ahead of time what to expect. I was prepared." She looks at me. "I wouldn´t put Nessie or you in that kind of danger if I wasn't able to control myself."

"Next time try sharing your plans," I add, feeling my bad mood gradually dimming.

"I didn´t plan on doing this. I had to take advantage of the opportunities that life provided us." She smiles, looking down at the cooler.

"So what exactly do you have in there?" Now that my mood has improved—a little—I start getting curious.

"Well, besides the obvious," she gives me a look indicating don´t get mad, and which I can only assume there is blood in there, "I kind of took some of the filters from the air conditioner." She pulls from behind her back some black tube, handing me one. Inside is a small granular component.

I give it a small shake; it's almost like dust.

"They are made of Carbon Activated; I thought they would be great help with the stench in the car." Her expression is mischievous.

"So you stole from the blood bank? I thought you didn´t like to steal."

She looks away as her smile grows. "I didn´t quite steal from them … specifically." She pulls something else from behind her back; she has my wallet.

When did she…?

My hand automatically goes to my back pocket, but honestly, she is holding the evidence on her hand. "Give me that!"

She giggles at my reaction.

"So you stole from me?"

"Technically no, considering we have a joint bank account. You just save me trip to the ATM." She winks at me and shrugs her shoulders. "I left some money where the filter were located; hopefully they´ll notice it"

"You are unbelievable. We could have gone to a store and probably bought them the honest way." I shake my head at her.

"I didn´t know they existed until I went inside. The smell of blood wasn´t bad at all, and Kevin was kind enough to explain to me how they work, so I took advantage of the opportunity."

"So if you didn´t know you were going to´purchase´the filters, what exactly did you go inside for?"

She stops walking and bites her lower lip."Your mind show me to always plan for the worst case scenario." She raises her eyebrows.

"So, you are planning on drinking human blood?" Okay now I am full of disbelief.

"NO! Are you crazy?!"

The way she is looking at me, makes me want to laugh. "So then what for?"

"I'm thinking about creating a probable escape plan, in case they are able to track us down. This is going to give us the distraction we need." She pats the cooler. "We need to get a hold of some ice."

I stop rooted to place looking at her. She gives me a wide smile.

"Hey, stink bomb, you are SOOOOOO going to love me." She winks at me heads over to Jake and Nessie.

"Never going to happen." There is still some anger in Jacob´s voice.

I hear Nessie chuckle.

She is an evil genius in the making…

Note to self: never piss her off … that is all that I am saying.

 

A/N: I am sorry it took so long to update the story, but returning from Christmas vacation had me in a frenzy trying to catch up.

I already posted the story of Red Moon, a prelude of Solstice that explains the back story of William and Ivan, let me know your thoughts about it or if you haven´t read it you can look it up in Fanfiction under Red Moon by Cristymv.

I would love to hear your comments, hopefully I can post in two weeks the next chapter *crossing finger* I have to do some major editing on the chapter.

Take care :)


	19. Chapter 19.- Sunshine

Thank you very much to The Walrus and the Carpenter for helping me Beta this document.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 19.-Sunshine.

Maya POV

The suspense is killing me; I am all about opening the package as soon as we are back in the car, but William gave it to Stink bomb with the whole and only purpose to avoid me trying to open it.

Jeez! Is it bad for a girl to be curious? Honestly, I am mad—almost mad enough to not put the filters ups to reduce the stench….almost!

Duct tape helps attach the filters to the A/C system, and the air improves significantly once they are up. It helps that I put a couple around Jacob—not that he appreciates the gesture, but he should count his blessings. I am almost tempted to throw the carbon dust directly on top of him to see if it removes the stench, but William opposes to my idea.

What a party pooper.

After crossing back to the USA, Jacob put his foot down regarding having a decent meal and not the crappy food from a drive thru—what a picky eater—so we stop at a local diner located at the outskirts of a town. I actually don´t put up a fight—not for his benefit, obviously, but actually because it gives us an opportunity to open the mysterious box.

When we enter the diner, and as expected, all heads turn to see us, and well ... I understand their point of view; two grown up males, one extremely good looking, with two teenage girls doesn´t look good. It's is why Nessie and I took off when we arrived at the park back in Canada; obviously, Jacob and William didn´t see my point of view, and I was scolded.

This time I hold Nessie back and let William and Jacob pick a table; I don´t want to be chastises again. We end up on the far end of the restaurant where we are not visible. They pick a booth, and I go and sit next to William—considering that I am most definitely not sitting next to the Stink bomb, who is now eagerly eyeing the menu.

William takes advantage that our hands are not in view of Jacob and Nessie and quickly intertwines his finger with mine. He smiles at me. 

Oh why God? I just want to kiss him.

"Welcome to Sunshine's. May I take your order?" a nasally, uninterested voice interrupts my trance that I had going on studying William's face once again.

When I see our waitress the last thing that comes to mind is Sunshine; the poor woman looks like she needs a break. The pins in her hair are barely holding the strands of hair that are fighting their way to get lose, and the smudges on her make up indicating how tired she is feeling.

Her outfit is yellow with a white apron on top, carrying a nametag. According to it, her name is Marie. Her shoes are white with a small heel, and her poor feet are swollen. She is probably around her late twenties but looks older, considering how unflattering the uniform looks on her and how tired she looks.

Something else about her catches my attention, and I close my eyes and hear her strong heartbeat, and a very faint heartbeat following her own … she is with child. When I open them, I realize there is a small bump in her stomach; she's probably in her mid-second trimester.

Close by is a younger waitress, her attitude chirp and happy; it seems that she can´t stop smiling. She constantly keeps glancing towards the counter where the manager is located and winks at him, her smile growing when he returns the wink.

"Yes please," Jacob takes over the conversation and starts ordering as if he was going to feed a battalion.

The poor waitress writes as fast as she can, trying to keep up with the speed that Jacob is talking to her.

I can´t stop staring at the other waitress, the way she flirts with the manager and ignores her customers—which keep calling her, trying to get her attention.

"Eloise, time for a break," the manager says while looking at the flirting waitress, giving her a not too subtle signal to come and join him at the back of the restaurant. Our server sighs, even if she is not looking at the scene. She is aware of what is going on.

"Anything else?" she looks at all of us. Nessie, William and I shake our heads. "I´ll bring you some extra plates to share." She looks sternly at Jacob.

She leaves us and quickly puts the order to the kitchen and rushes to attend Eloise´s table, who are now becoming rather desperate.

No wonder she looks tired; who knows how many breaks Eloise has taken.

"You should take it slow on her, Jacob." I look at him, his face is full of doubts. "You ordered half the menu—like you are really going to eat all that food."

"Well duh? I am hungry. I have a big appetite." He looks exasperated at me as if I should know this. "Nessie should also eat some."

I look at Nessie, and she shakes her head.

"Maya, I am sure Jacob is not trying to annoy the waitress," William says, and I look at him.

Ugh! Why does he keeps defending Stink bomb? I am his girlfriend; he should be backing me up.

"So when can we open the package?" Nessie says breaking the tension that was starting to build up.

"We should probably wait, for Jacob to eat." William looks at Nessie and gives her a smile.

"Oh no! His order is going to take a long time to process," I say, a little bit desperately. "You already tested my patience and curiosity more than enough for today!"

Nessie laughs at this, and Jacob rolls his eyes, and honestly, I don´t want to look at the warning look that William is probably giving me.

"I want to see what is inside—don't you Nessie?" I know William and Jacob are not going to back me up, but Nessie might, and if she does, I'll already have won Jacob´s vote.

"Well … yeah!" Nessie´s face lights up.

Two against two….Yeyy! Don´t look at William, don´t look at William.

Instead, I look at Jacob; he eyes me knowing exactly what I just did, but I know he is curious as well.

"Maybe…" Jacob looks at William, but stops on his tracks.

Oh nuts! What does he means with maybe? Lesson learned; the dog is not going to be a good sidekick.

"There is a reason I don´t want to open the package in such a public area," William puts in.

"How about the piece of paper?" Nessie is looking at William. "We don´t exactly know what is in it?"

I see William's face crumbling.

YES!

I mentally high five Nessie. She is going to be an excellent partner in crime.

"If it is an address we might as well be driving the other way and losing precious time," I say innocently, without daring to look at William.

"Terrible acting skills," Jacob says looking at me and shaking his head. "You really are an oddity within your group." His voice serious.

I glare at him and stick out my tongue; it is rather childish, but making Nessie laugh makes it totally worth it.

"But she is right, William," he turns to William, "it is better to know what is going to be our next step."

I finally dare to glimpse at William. He is looking down at the table and nods.

He moves opposite to my side, facing the wall and starts opening the box. He is not letting me see anything no matter how much I crane my neck trying to get a glimpse at the package. He makes sure to block me, but the widening of Jacob´s eyes make me think that there is something more interesting inside it.

I hear the box being closed.

Curses!

On William´s hand there is a small piece of paper. He opens it; there is an email address and a phone number below it. He hands me the piece of paper so that I can get a better look. I read the information, trying to think which state has that specific area code.

"What is it?" Nessie asks, looking at the piece of paper.

"Here," I say stretching my hand to pass it to her.

"Coming Through." The chirping voice from Eloise indicates that she is approaching us; it takes me by surprise, and by the time I turn to look at her it's too late. I feel a cascade of beverages and food falling on top of my head.

I most certainly can state that I am not happy; I look down at myself and see some French fries and clumps of milkshakes in my hair, ruining my beautiful hairdo and clothes. I look up; Nessie is barely affected—just the sleeve of her arm.

I turn at the guilty party in not a very kind way expecting to see Eloise, but stop when I realize that the unfortunate waitress that caused the accident is Marie, our waitress.

"I am so sorry," she says quickly and nervously, putting down whatever is left in the tray on a nearby table. She quickly grabs the napkins, but when she gets a good look at me, she realizes it's going to take much more than that. "I-I-I..." Her voice is all shaken up and tears start welling in her eyes.

"What the hell, Marie?" the manager says as he approaches our table, his voice nowhere gentle, and his eyes blazing with fury. Marie puts her shaking hand on her belly.

"Oh, Marie, again?" If Jacob thinks I am a bad actress, I´ve met my match with Eloise.

I stand up and look at William; he looks worried. I then turn to Jacob; there is amusement in his eyes, but I have to hand it to him, he is keeping quiet. Nessie is also looking at the whole scene, her eyes full of concern.

"Are you okay?" I come closer to where Marie is. Her face is surprised; she was probably expecting me to be yelling at her and not asking her about her wellbeing.

"Miss, I am so sorry about the incident," the manager says, while he starts cleaning my soaked shirt with his towel.

"Oh silly me!" I say, taking the towel from his hands. I don´t like the way that he eyes me and touches me. "It was my fault." I look at William, begging him with my eyes to help me; he catches my drift.

"Again, Maya?" He puts in. Standing up, he walks to where I am and removes some French fries from my hair. "She is very clumsy." He turns and looks at the manager rolling his eyes. "I told her to be careful when the food was arriving, but instead of staying put she stands up; she never listens to me."

Marie looks confused; she knows I was not getting up, but for her sake, she keeps quiet. William continues helping to remove the rest of the food from the top of my head.

"I think it's better if I go to the ladies room," I decide after seeing that my hair is going to need more than just a small towel.

Nessie stands up; she has been quiet the entire time. "I´ll go with you," she says.

William and Jacob look worried; splitting up is not something that they like, but it's not as if they can follow us….

Shoot!

"No, Nessie, I´ll be fine." I walk to where the ladies room is located, not waiting to hear her answer.

When I reach the ladies room, I find a speck of amusement at my current predicament. It seems there is always a first time for everything. I don´t recall ever walking to a restaurant bathroom.

I enter and hear laughing and talking inside. I stay near the door quiet; I'd rather clean myself without witnesses.

"Did you see her face when the tray started to go down? She didn´t even notice when she tripped on my feet"—that's most certainly Eloise's voice—"she was just lucky that the customer thought it was her fault…" More giggles from inside.

"Did you check out the hottie the customer is with?" the other voice speaks up. "I was so looking forward on him sitting on my tables."

"Maybe he won´t think she's so beautiful with all her make up smudged, and French fries in her hair," Eloise says, and they both start laughing aloud.

"I thought the other one was cuter, he has more of manly look with his dark skin—yummy," the other one replies.

"I am planning on slipping my phone number on the check; honestly, either one will do." Eloise is the one talking again.

Bitch!

"What about Brian?" There is a tinge of jealousy in the voice of Eloise's friend.

"What about him? I am with him to get a better cut on the tips and to have a little fun. Oh don´t you dare give me that look; you do the same every once in a while." Eloise starts giggling.

I hear footsteps approaching the restroom from inside restaurant and decide to walk in; I didn't want to be caught eavesdropping.

The minute they realize I am walking in, they go quiet. They quickly finish washing their hands and leave the restroom, holding from laughing. I look at my reflection and see the damage the food actually made on me. I no longer have food on my hair, but it's still dripping from the milkshake and sodas. Besides, there is food still on my clothes.

I reluctantly remove my gloves and start the water.

Somebody enters the restroom, and I see Marie coming in through the reflection of the mirror.

"Hi." I smile at her and start washing my hair as best as I can in the sink.

"Let me help you," Marie says, stepping closer to me.

"I am okay, thank you," I answer trying to avoid her, but she ignores me and starts helping me anyway. She takes soap from the dispenser and puts it on my hair, gently scrubbing it and rinsing it with the water.

"You have beautiful hair," she says, and I chuckle at this, "long and thick. I wish mine was like that." I remember her hair trying to escape from the pins. "Thank you for taking the downfall." Her voice is serious.

"As far as I am concerned it was not your fault," I say looking at her in the mirror.

She smiles; the first smile since I met her. "And neither was it yours." I feel her fingers going through my hair trying to untangle the knots.

"You should leave it like that. I´ll brush it later on." I bring my hair together and wring as much water from it as I can.

"Here, put it under the hand dryer blower; it should help a little."

I do as told, and I soon feel the warm air helping it dry.

With my hair damp—which is better than dripping—I walk back to the mirror to study what should be the next step and sigh. There isn´t much I can do about my clothes other than change them.

I wash my face, and Marie hands me some toilet paper to dry it. I am careful when I take it to avoid touching her hand. After I am done, I put my gloves back on, ignoring the inquisitive look on Marie's face.

I look in the mirror and see the old Maya back with no hairdo and no makeup.… Oh well; it wasn´t going to last forever.

"Can I braid your hair?" Marie asks kindly.

I look at her not really understanding her question.

"I want to practice before she arrives." She touches her belly, and I can´t help at smiling at her.

"Sure," I say, and she moves behind me; she is a bit taller than I am which helps. She silently works on my hair. It's not a tight braid as I was expecting; it's loose, giving my hair some liberty. She takes a rubber band from her apron and finishes the braid.

I don´t remember ever looking like this; it's different, but not bad.

"That is the best that I can do." She smiles looking at the result.

"I like it," I say, turning my face to one side and then to the other.

Her smile widens, before there is a surprise look on her face and her hands automatically move to her belly. She looks at me. "She likes you," she says.

Well...yeah... I don´t have a clue what she is talking about.

"Here," she grabs my soaked gloved hand and puts it on top of her belly, "can you feel her?"

I am taken off guard; I definitely feel something moving inside her and I can´t help but laughing at this. Never in my life did I expect to feel a baby moving inside a mother's womb. Nevertheless, here I am inside a restroom, in a diner, with my clothes all soaked, touching a pregnant woman and feeling the baby move inside her.

If this could actually happen to me, we might have a shot against the Volturi.

"Thank you." I remove my hand and look her in the eye. "Have you decided a name for her?"

"Not yet. I still have a while to go." She recovers from the surprise and we both start making our way towards the door. "Maybe you can help me. What do you think I should name her?"

I open the door and let her go through first.

Two names automatically pop into my mind. "Marian or Marissa." I don´t know where those name came from, but I can´t help at smiling when I say them.

"I like Marian. Do you?" she looks down and pats her belly, and it seems that the question is not for me. "Seems that Marian liked it also."

"Give it some time; she might change her mind." Why should a child be named after some crazy thought from me?

Marie starts laughing when she hears my nervous voice. "Take care" she says and smiles before taking a different route.

I make my way back to the table and see Eloise walking towards me carrying a tray with a piece of pie on it. I can´t help it, she is the reason that the tray fell down, and it was no accident.

She is distracted winking at whom I now know is Brian, and as I make my way through I slightly pull out the chair that I just pass. I am not able to see what happens next, since I am walking in the opposite direction, but I clearly hear something falling and not hitting the floor, along with a small scream. I figure that the pie did not land on the floor; hopefully it landed on top of her head.

The look that William gives me is a clear sign that he saw what I just did, but it's not a warning look; it's actually an amused look with a slight shake of his head.

I sit down in my previous spot. It seems the kitchen has been working diligently filling Jacob´s order, as the result is now on the table. There is a plate in front of each of our seats with food in William´s and Nessie´s, but they are not eating it.

"Dig in," Jacob says and points towards the food. Yuck! "For appearances," he whispers.

"I am already wearing it," I answer back and notice the smile coming to life on his mouth.

"Maya," I look up and see Nessie´s worried expression.

"What is wrong?" I am now in full alert, eyeing all the corners of the restaurant.

"The paper, we lost it," her voice is nervous. She opens her hand and sure enough the piece of paper is there all smudged with food and some other liquid. If the handwriting was hard to read when it was dry, it's now impossible.

Jacob puts his arm around Nessie, comforting her.

I look at William and he is already staring at me; he knows the information is not lost.

"William," I say stretching my hand; he immediately pulls out a piece of paper and a pen. I write down the information that I'd memorized.

"Here, Nessie." I push the piece of paper to her side and see her face light up, together with Jacob´s. I make a quick glance at William and see him smiling at me, giving my hand a small squeeze from below the table. "See, stink bomb, I am more than just a pretty face."

Nessie starts chuckling, and Jacob rolls his eyes.

William pulls out a cellphone and quickly dials the number that I'd written down before waiting for an answer. But nothing. He tries again with no luck.

"Nobody is answering." He is disappointed, and by the looks of it, everybody is. I know I am.

"We can always e-mail them." Nessie looks at William and me.

William pushes the piece of paper towards Nessie. Obviously, like most teenagers in America, she pulls her cellphone from her purse and starts writing an email on it.

"Nessie, it's better if we create an account that doesn´t link back to you," Jacob says while eyeing her.

"As if the Volturi are that technological developed," she says without looking back at Jacob.

"Better safe than sorry, Nessie," William puts in.

Nessie stops and pulls an annoyed face, but from the look on Jacob´s, I get the impression that she is doing as William asked and creating a new e-mail address.

"Is the phone safe?" William says while looking at Nessie and Jacob.

"Alice said it was; shouldn´t be traceable." Nessie keeps writing fast. "So what should the e-mail be?"

I turn and look at William; it needed to be something that Fred will know is us, and not spam.

"Skatevamp?" William turns and looks at me.

I shake my head; too obvious. Unlike Nessie, I do believe the Volturi are aware of technological developments.

"What was the name of the National Park where we met him?" I look at him and see that William likes the idea.

"Norvin NJ." He turns and looks at Nessie. "NJ, as in New Jersey".

Nessie puts the information in and smiles; it seems that the name hasn´t been taken.

After a small while, she looks at us. "So what should the e-mail say?"

What we have to tell him is not something that we can explain via e-mail; it would probably need to be in person just to make sure that he believes us and knows he can trust the source of the information. Knowing what I´ve seen from Nessie, the way her ability works will leave no doubt in the recipient that what she is showing them is the truth.

"Fred: Call us on the following number, important information," I turn and look at William, so far he has not shared the number that he is using with the rest of the team. He dictates it to Nessie and she starts writing it down, "William and Maya." I say the last part for Nessie to write it down.

"Okay, let´s hope he returns the call soon." Jacob says, and it's hard to understand him, considering he has food in his mouth.

I throw him a disgusted look but he ignores me, and to our luck it seems it was the last scoop of food that he had on his plate.

"Check, please," I say before he gets any idea for dessert.

Brian eyes me and nods, and I see Eloise approach and wait for Brian to give her the check. Part of her uniform and apron has the evidence of where the pie landed. Marie is standing a couple of feet away, her face full of disbelief; we are her table after all.

"I wasn´t done yet!" Jacob's voice brings my attention back to the table.

"After all that you ate?!" I point at the plate and raise my eyebrows.

I hear Nessie laugh.

"You are wearing half of it," he replies, and my smile disappears completely bringing my previous anger.

Eloise approaches the table, writing something on the check.

Payback time—again.

"I am about to get you dessert for free—and a show," I say to Jacob, but I don´t dare look at anybody, and I ignore the clearing of William throat. He is probably going to tell me to keep a low profile. Well … we lost that when the food was dumped on me.

"Here is the check," Eloise hands the check to William who is already stretching his hand towards her, obviously ignoring my hand that is right in front of her. I get a hold of it before William and pull it towards me.

"My turn to pay." I look at William giving him a big smile; he eyes me in a not so friendly way. I turn to Eloise; her face is full of shock.

I analyze the check, and of course, right at the bottom together with the grand total is her phone number and ´Call me ´ with a little face winking and sending a kiss.

"Ummm, Ma´am, there seems to be a problem with the check." I eye her and enjoy her reaction. "You forgot to charge us for an extra soda." I smile at her and see relief in her eyes. "Manager!" I say at the top of my voice.

Brian jumps from his seat and immediately comes towards us.

"Yes?" His face is eager and a little bit nervous. William tries to pry the check from my hands, but as soon as I see him moving closer, I stand up and move closer to Brian.

"You forgot to charge us for an extra soda." I point to the area where the beverages are indicated; he silently nods, "and your waitress is hitting on my boyfriend." I smile at Brian and see the surprised look on his face when he sees Eloise's number at the bottom of the check. He looks at her furiously, and I dare to look at William. He is looking at me just as furiously. I don´t care.

"I am sorry, Miss, I assure your there must be a mistake." He glares at Eloise; the color is leaving her face. "Let me bring you a complementary dessert while I sort out the check ... and, well, the inconvenience."

"Thank you, sir." I go back to my seat and look innocently at William; he is not happy about the situation, but then again I did not appreciate being soaked from head to toe with soda and who knows what else. I am still sticky all over.

Eloise and the manager leave and Marie quickly steps in bringing us four plates of pies. She gives me a big wide smile and winks at me. I return her smile, and as soon as she leaves, I prepare myself for the lecture I am going to get.

"What the hell was that?" Jacob is the one that speaks up, but his voice is full of amusement.

"It was time to pay." I put on an innocent tone, and hear Nessie laughing.

"The check, Maya!" William says, and I can´t help at looking at him. His tone is not happy, but his eyes betray him.

"Stink bomb wasn´t done; I am just providing food for my teammate. Right?" I look at Jacob but he is already gulfing down the first pie, not answering.

"Why exactly did you do it?" Nessie asks me.

"She is a bully and is taking advantage of her position."

All of a sudden we hear screaming coming from the kitchen.

Good!

"And you are not a bully?" William speaks up; I look at him. "I am not sure she is going to have a job after the stunt that you just pulled."

Why is he defending her?

"Well, she probably knew the risks when she wrote her number on the check. Plus Marie needs the job far more than Eloise; she keeps trying to get her in trouble." I look to where Marie is, still managing Eloise's tables; her mood has improved significantly.

I turn and see Jacob reaching for my pie; I give him a slap on the wrist.

"Really? Are you going to eat it?" he says, glaring at me.

"No, but is polite to ask, not just reach out and take it. I am assuming you were not raise by wolves for crying out loud." I look at Nessie and see amusement in her eyes, and I can´t help but giggle at the irony of the situation.

"Here, Jacob, take mine," William says, and his voice is full of annoyance, "and, Maya, stop picking fights."

I roll my eyes at him.

"You are such a little annoyance," Jacob says, continuing to glare at me.

"What? I am literally sugar coated. What is not to love?" I answer, taking advantage of the work Eloise did on me.

"Aarrghh. How can you put up with her?" Jacob tells William.

"I didn´t have a choice," William answers him.

"Hey! You are free to leave anytime," I exclaim, hurt by William.

He chuckles, then takes my hand beneath the table as his thumb starts circling my wrist.

"That doesn´t mean I wanted to leave you behind," he says with fierceness in his voice, making me hold my breath while getting lost in his eyes. "Not even now."

Jacob manages to steal my piece of pie during that small distraction.

"Well actually not that you can do that—without the Volturi tracking you," Jacob says.

…and killing you, my mind completes the phrase with the reality. Thank you very much, Jacob, for dumping that cold bucket of water. This is not a field trip, so welcome back to the present, Maya. This is reality no matter how much sucks.

"Then for our sake, and for the rest of us, let's make sure we contact as many vampires that we can," I say with disappointment, raising from my seat without waiting to see if Jacob has finished eating his pie.

I hear some footsteps following me, and feel a small tug in my arm, but I pull it free and walk out of the diner. I let the cool air of the night fill my lungs, hoping it helps clear the dark thoughts from my mind.

Think positive, Maya, improbable things have occurred in the small time frame we have been in the restaurant; who knows what the future has in store for us.

"We will make it through, Maya," I hear William´s voice at my back and immediately feel his arms go around me. I don´t dare to look at him; I just turn around and let the warm of his body comfort me. He kisses the top of my head.

The moment doesn´t last; we part the moment we hear the door from the diner open. I look up and see Nessie and Jacob coming out with the package in his arms.

"I need to change," I tell William, realizing how sticky I am. "I don´t know when we are planning to stop again; I better take advantage of this stop."

He nods, walks over to the car, pulls my backpack from the trunk and hands it over to me.

I go back into the diner, straight to the restroom without a glimpse and take possession of one stool. Once inside, I pull out a set of clothes. I decide to wear a white V-neck shirt and a pair of jeans. I pull out some underwear and change. I´ll have to confess, that never in my life have I worn a bra, and honestly I find it tricky at first, and it takes me longer than expected, but at the end I manage to figure it out—I think.

I finish the look with a different pair of shoes, then leave the stool, and see Nessie wearing a different shirt, looking at her reflection without putting a lot of attention into it. Her eyes lost as tears well in them. Her reflection breaks my heart, she looks so young and innocent; I feel the need to protect her.

"Hey," I say gently trying not to scare her.

She looks at me and bites her lower lip.

"What is wrong?" I step closer to her and touch her hand.

"We are too late," her voice breaks.

"You don´t know that, Nessie, we still have a long…" I begin, unsure how to finish, but it's not necessary; she cuts me off.

"Jacob just told me. They captured them." A sobs interrupts her.

I know I am breathing, but the oxygen doesn't seem to reach my lungs.

"They captured Benjamin and Tia," she finishes.

Benjamin? Who is…?

Oh no!

With Benjamin, the Volturi will now be able to control the elements. This is not good, not good at all.

 

Thanks to my wonderful and talented Beta for helping me with this chapter I really truly appreciate your help and you totally rock hun :)

I am working on the prelude story of Maya the story is call "Bright Moon" and will be donate to Fandom Against Juvenile Diabetes, so it might take me a Little longer to update Solstice since I need to hand the story by the end of this month (yikes!)

There are some wonderful writers participating in this fundraiser so jump in and help out for this wonderful cause.

Take care and I hope to be hearing your reviews


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